Christine Ebersole with Billy Stritch

I’ll Be Home for Christmas

54 Below, NYC, December 2, 2025

Reviewed by Alix Cohen

Christine Ebersole seemed at the top of her game last night. Cloaked in virtuosity, poise, and conviction, she performed holiday classics, eclectic seasonal fare, and excerpts from musicals that were pivotal to her career. Collaborator and pianist Billy Stritch created tempo, texture, bespoke arrangements, and occasional vocal harmony.

“Christmas Love Song” (Johnny Mandel/Alan & Marilyn Bergman) and “Snowfall” (Claude Thornhill & Ruth Thornhill) were new to me. The first arrived unfussy, intimate, and grateful: “finding every sweet surprise/Wrapped in your eyes.” The second, in a terrific duet with Stritch, sounded like crystalline icicles melting.

Ebersole and Stritch met working on Broadway’s 42nd Street, he in “the pivotal role of Oscar, rehearsal pianist,” she as temperamental Dorothy Brock, for which she won a Tony and about which she was damn funny last night. They’ve been working together for 22 years. The artists barely looked at one another yet remained in sync.

Harry Warren and Al Dubin songs from that musical included a frothy duet on “You’re Getting to Be a Habit with Me,” Stritch’s jaunty “We’re in the Money,” and Ebersole’s serious rendition of “Lullaby of Broadway,” which was painted in broken dreams rather than celebration.

In 2006, Ebersole’s dual role of Big Edie and Little Edie Beale in Grey Gardens secured her another Tony. With a nod to composer Scott Frankel in the audience, she offered three songs from that show, replete with ancillary dialogue, enmeshed in character. “Another Winter in a Summer Town” (lyrics by Michael Korie), the only on-theme contribution, was particularly desolate and moving. Turning on a dime, Ebersole’s version of “River” (Joni Mitchell) dropped its gs and became folky.  Her five syllable delivery of the word “flyyyy” irresistibly poured from one note to the next. There was no transition line between change of key or octave; these too, poured.

Unexpected recordings of Barbra Streisand reading the part of her autobiography that included mention of Stritch, and one of three-year-old Christine Ebersole singing “Jingle Bells” added novelty and color.

Quirky, cool humor emerged by way of “The Ice Hotel” (Stacey Kent/Jim Tomlinson; Kazuo Ishiguro/Jim Tomlinson): “I don’t think we’re ready for Hawaii or Tahiti…Somehow I think the Arctic will suit us well.” Stritch jazzed up an instrumental section that suggested giggling. One fewer classic song and one more humorous song would have balanced the program better.

A duet on “Christmas in L.A.” (Brandon Flowers/Dave Keuning Mark Stoermer/ Ronnie Vannucci, Jr./Taylor Goldsmith/Irving Berlin) bookended a glimpse of the show’s title song. “In the words of my old pal, Jesus, ‘For Christ’s sakes love one another,’” Ebersole declared before closing with “Silent Night.” (Franz Xaver Gruber/Joseph Mohr). She looked like Joan of Arc in the spotlight. In addition to Stritch, the band consisted of Michael O’Brien on bass and Ray Marchica on drums. This was a richly entertaining evening.