KT Sullivan, Stacy Sullivan, Jeff Harnar, Todd Murray: We Love the Winter Weather

Post author:Bart Greenberg
Post published:January 8, 2025
Reading time:3 mins read

KT Sullivan, Stacy Sullivan, Jeff Harnar, Todd Murray

We Love the Winter Weather

Birdland, NYC, December 16, 2024

Reviewed by Bart Greenberg

Jeff Harnar, Heather Sullivan, KT Sullivan, Todd Murray

Back in the 1960s and ’70s, as the weather got chillier and the snow began to drift, each year a flock of television specials would take over the airwaves to celebrate the season. Whether it was Bing Crosby, Cher, Julie Andrews, or David Bowie, the programs featured slick production values, gorgeous music arrangements, and elegant wardrobes. Here the champion quartet of KT Sullivan, Stacy Sullivan Jeff Harnar, and Todd Murray, along with the brilliant pianist Jon Weber, revived the genre with their celebratory evening titled We Love the Winter Weather at Birdland. Smooth and sleek, it took the audience on a sleigh ride of memories.

The nostalgia was introduced at the start with a blending of “Remember” (Harry Nilsson) and “The Happy Time” (John Kander/Fred Ebb) that resolved into “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” (Eddie Pola/George Wyle). This montage immediately established two facets of the evening: the four singers’ voices and personalities complimented each other perfectly, and Weber had created some exquisite vocal arrangements. Shifting combinations of the performers throughout the show gave it variety. The Sullivan sisters provided a moving “Hard Candy Christmas” (Carol Hall), and Stacy teamed up with Todd for a very funny “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” (Frank Loesser), that featured a “politically correct” set of lyrics. Then the three men on stage offered a sterling “Do You Hear What I Hear?” (Noel Regney/Gloria Shayne).

Of course, each of the performers had their own moments to shine in solos (often with the others providing subtle vocal backups). Harnar brought welcome depth to a mix of the traditional “In the Window” and Peer Yarrow’s “Light One Candle” to acknowledge the holiday of Hanukkah. For sheer fun, KT offered a down-home “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” (Randy Brooks), and Stacy offered a more subtle “I Love the Winter Weather” (Ted Shapiro). Murray let loose his inner-Elvis with “Blue Christmas” (Billy Hayes/Jay W. Johnson) to the audience’s delight.

The evening climaxed with an 18-minute recap of the classic holiday movie White Christmas (all songs by Irving Berlin). Beautifully staged and with fine singing but with a surprising lack of whimsy, the sequence was charming. If there was a flaw to the show, it was that it seemed totally rehearsed with little room for sentiment, even when Stacy offered up “Christmas Morning,” a song based on family remembrances composed by her siblings, Heather and Tim Sullivan. A bit more freedom would have lifted this lovely evening to a higher level.

Tags: Vocalists, (I Love the) Winter Weather", Broadway, CD Reviews, Nightclubs, Peter Yarrow, CD, Christmas Morning, Cabaret, Blue CHristmas, Musicals, Do You Hear What I Hear?, Elvis, Heather and Tim Sullivan, Broadway Musicals, Clubs, Remember, Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, Cabaret Scenes, Singer, In the Window, composer, Bing Crosby, Randy Brooks, Julie Andrews, We Love the Winter Weather, Carol Hall, The Happy Time, Lyricist, Billy Hayes, Baby It’s Cold Outside, Eddie Pola, Irving Berlin, Hard Candy Christmas, White Christmas, Jay W. Johnson, Stacy Sullivan, George Wyle, Gloria Shayne, Cher, Ted Shapiro, Hanukkah, Noel Regney, Birdland, John Kander, Todd Murray, Bart Greenberg, NYC, Great American Songbook, Fred Ebb, Frank Loesser, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Pianist, American Songbook Association, KT Sullivan, Harry Nilsson, Jon Weber, David Bowie, songwriter, ASA, Jeff Harnar, Cabaret Reviews, American Songbook, Light One Candle

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 & Noble, 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."