The historic Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive, Chicago, will host the new 2025 reinvisioned program Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah, presented in honor of the life and legacy of legendary civil rights leader and cultural hero Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Saturday, January 11, 2024, at 6 P.M in a program to be repeated Sunday, January 12, 2024 at 3 P.M.
Conceived by Marin Alsop, arranged by Bob Christianson and Gary Anderson, the concert will be led by George Stelluto, Music Director of the Peoria Symphony conducting the fine chamber orchestra. Fred Nelson III, who wows audiences with his acclaimed chops on the Hammond B3 organ, assembled The Chicago Collective Rhythm Section.
When the music begins, it will bring to life, in sweeping grandeur, the biblical text and power of the gospel, backed by the soul-stirring 70+ member Chicago Too Hot choir, honoring historic church choral traditions. Joining them are stand-out solo vocalists Alfreda Burke (soprano), Rodrick Dixon (tenor), and Karen-Marie Richardson (alto) with solo instrumentalists CSO assistant concert master David Taylor, CSO cellist Richard Hirschl, and star solo pianist Alvin Waddles. Rounding out the creative roster are retired Old St. Patrick’s Church choir director William Fraher.
On the eve of this Holiday Season, this reviewer interviewed husband and wife opera stars Alfreda Burke and Roderick Dixon, asking each what was so special about the other’s performance in Too Hot.
Soprano Burke revealed, “It’s wonderful to sing with him. He is incredibly sensitive, intentional, and in the moment. He is a supremely passionate performer, a unique blend of singer, storyteller and musical tactician. We are both P.K.’s- preacher’s kids-, and we know each other’s artistic capacity. We each put a demand on the other to be our very best at all times. Singing with such a world-class soloist raises the bar”.
Noted Tenor Dixon, “Alfreda is just amazing! She is more than my equal as an artist. In this show, she has the awe-inspiring responsibility to tell the story of The Messiah. She feels she must and she does give the community in the audience what they need in this story. There is a deep spiritual meaning embedded in the lyrics, they call us to be present, to show up from our first breath, and to help each other heal the world”.
Messiah was composed in 1741 by George Frederic Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and using the version of the Psalms taken from The Book Of Common Prayer. Although it has a structure similar to that of opera, it differs in that it is not presented in dramatic form, there is no direct speech and there are no typically operatic characters. The lyrics, however, are definitely strongly religious in flavor: it has been succinctly called “an extended reflection on Christ as Messiah”.
The text begins with Prophecies, moves through the Annunciation to the shepherds, dwells on the Passion, covers the Resurrection of the dead and ends with Christ’s Ascension to glory. Eventually the piece became one of the most frequently performed choral works in Western music, frequently adapted for performance on a much grander scale than Handel intended.
It is now generally agreed by scholars that there is not one definitive version of the masterpiece, but certainly the version-and vision- given at The Auditorium is an extremely successful and spirited example of grafting an entirely new concept of liturgical expression onto an existing form
Gracing The Auditorium stage for the first time since December 2022, the transformative power of Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah returns bigger and better than ever. Joyously reinventing the original musical material from the Messiah using scat, backbeats, jazz and gospel vocals, and instrumental improvisation, Too Hot to Handel creates an exhilarating and moving experience that leaves audiences shouting Hallelujah! In commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January 20, 2025), the production begins with a newly produced video homage to King.
Too Hot to Handel had its Chicago premiere at The Auditorium in 2006. Using the original musical material from Messiah, Alsop, Christianson, and Anderson reinvented the basic melodic and harmonic outlines of Handel’s original by using scat, backbeats, jazz and gospel vocals, instrumental improvisation, and the walking bass line played by the bass soloist.
Messiah’s recitatives are expanded to shout-and-response improvisations over a gospel organ and piano accompaniment while the original metrical material of the work is expanded via a drum set. The result is that Too Hot, with its jazz and gospel elements, acts as a modern-day musical tribute to the original work by introducing a new generation to Handel’s masterpiece.
All photos by Andy Argyrakis
THE AUDITORIUM PRESENTS THE RETURN OF THE INSPIRATIONAL TOO HOT TO HANDEL: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah IN TWO PERFORMANCES ONLY, JAN. 11 & 12, 2025
Tickets, starting at $39.00, are now on sale by visiting www.auditoriumtheatre.org or calling The Auditorium’s Ticket Service Center at 312.341.2300. Plus, groups are encouraged to celebrate together with discount tickets also available through the Ticket Service Center.
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