Paige Turner: Drag Me to Christmas

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Paige Turner

Drag Me to Christmas

The Green Room 42, NYC, December 15, 2022

Reviewed by Bart Greenberg

Paige Turner

Bursting onto the stage at The Green Room 42 and gowned like an American Girl doll—Charles Dickens’ Christmas edition—Paige Turner began her show with high energy and enthusiasm, and then moved the level upwards. Singing, dancing, interacting with her best friend Lamar (a puppet), showing excellent videos and coming up with clever—often filthy—parodies, the fabulous drag queen never crossed the border into exhaustion thanks to her good cheer and openness. She seemed to be having the best time on stage—well maybe not when she took an unplanned stumble over a monitor but even that became a subject for her comic routines, and she carried the audience along with her. Singing live to tracks, she showed off her Broadway-style powerful voice and excellent enunciation.

Among the highlights of the evening were two songs written for Turner by Billy Recce, “Naughty or Nice” and “Christmas Is So Gay” both of them had a Broadway sound and were a great match for the diva’s personality. The first was especially appropriate given that the loose storyline of the evening centered on her trying to find out which of Santa’s lists she was featured on (naughty or nice). She depended upon the efforts of her good pal Lamar to find out, although he was easily distracted. His travels led her to such international numbers such as “Feliz Navidad” with alternative lyrics (did you know you could sing the name “Felicia Rashad” to the same melody?) and the wacky “Mele Kalikimka.” As for the lyrics to “Power Top,” few of them could be quoted in this publication but they were hysterical in the room.

There were calmer moments, including “Never Fall in Love with an Elf,” a torch song from Elf the Musical which began thoughtfully and then slowly built to theatrical levels, a clear demonstration of Turner’s show-biz know how. A lovely emotional segment featuring the song “When the River Meets the Sea,” a gem from Emmett Otter’s Jugband Christmas, was Lamar’s favorite holiday special. The voice for Lamar, Matt W. Cody, has a terrific voice of his own, and he got to show off in a solo rendition of “A Soalin’” in a beautifully self-produced video.
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An excellent opening video was provided by Mikhail Torich. Turner’s first colorful costume was designed by Gloria Swasong and her second, a Barbie Peppermint delight, was designed by Molly Nguyen.
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There was so much more packed into this kinetic and joyful evening, from a tap-dancing rendition of “Be a Santa” from Subways Are for Sleeping to a big-band version of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” to a running gag about Turner’s bra. The program is definitely not for those looking for a traditional Christmas show. For everyone else, this program was a delightful sleigh ride into holiday insanity of the first order.

Bart Greenberg

Bart Greenberg first discovered cabaret a few weeks after arriving in New York City by seeing Julie Wilson and William Roy performing Stephen Sondheim and Cole Porter outdoors at Rockefeller Center. It was instant love for both Ms. Wilson and the art form. Some years later, he was given the opportunity to create his own series of cabaret shows while working at Tower Records. "Any Wednesday" was born, a weekly half-hour performance by a singer promoting a new CD release. Ann Hampton Callaway launched the series. When Tower shut down, Bart was lucky to move the program across the street to Barnes & Nobel, where it thrived under the generous support of the company. The series received both The MAC Board of Directors Award and The Bistro Award. Some of the performers who took part in "Any Wednesday" include Barbara Fasano and Eric Comstock, Tony Desare, Andrea Marcovicci, Carole Bufford, the Karens, Akers, Mason and Oberlin, and Julie Wilson. Privately, Greenberg is happily married to writer/photographer Mark Wallis, who as a performance artist in his native England gathered a major following as "I Am Cereal Killer."