Tim Connell
‘Tis the Season
The Green Room 42, NYC, November 28, 2025
Reviewed by Bart Greenberg
Kicking off the cabaret holidays on Black Friday, the ever-charming Tim Connell created a very happy occasion at The Greenroom 42 by declaring ‘Tis the Season. From a blithe opening, which combined the Irving Berlin standard “Happy Holidays” and the less-well-known Kay Thompson “It’s the Holiday Season,” to closing with a huge medley of jazzy carols that included “Christmas Time Is Here” (Vince Guaraldi/Lee Mendelson) and “We Need a Little Christmas” (Jerry Herman), upbeat cheer was the order of the day.
In accord with the light-hearted mood of the evening, much of the program was devoted to comedy numbers. “Black Friday” (the classic jazz song “Black Coffee” given a holiday rewrite), was especially appropriate given the day of the performance. It had new lyrics written by the director of the show Mark Chmiel that were added to those by the original authors Sonny Burke and Paul Francis Webster. The wry humor that addressed the exhausting and stressful event was a comic gem. Later in the evening, Chmiel worked even more magic on the traditional shopping list tune by creating a “12 Drunken Days of Christmas” that gave Connell a chance to show off his excellent comedy chops and his skills with a ukulele. Of course, there were some more sincere and gentler moments, such as a medley of “An Old-Fashioned Christmas” and “Merry Christmas Darling,” both with music by Richard Carpenter and lyrics for the first by John Bettis and the second by Frank Pooler. Connell created such a lovely atmosphere with these.
Throughout the evening, Connell received strong support from music director/arranger/pianist James Followell and his top-flight partners: bassist Sean Conly and drummer Ray Marchica. Connell demonstrated his wide range of styles by ncluding such gems as “What Are You Doing on New Years Eve?” (Frank Loesser), “Same Old Lang Syne” (Dan Fogelberg), and “Some Children See Him” (Alfred Burt/Wihla Huston). This first holiday show of the season was indeed a welcome beginning as Connell ended by wishing everyone “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (Hugh Martin). He will reprise this show at The Green Room 42 on December 27 at 7pm.
