THE AUDITORIUM PRESENTS THE RETURN OF THE INSPIRATIONAL TOO HOT TO HANDEL: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah

THE AUDITORIUM PRESENTS THE RETURN OF THE INSPIRATIONAL TOO HOT TO HANDEL: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah  

IN TWO PERFORMANCES ONLY, JAN. 11 & 12, 2025

 

Joyous jazz-gospel concert commemorates Martin Luther King Jr. Day; Legendary Hammond B organist and celebrity music director Fred Nelson III 

joins powerhouse talent filling The Auditorium stage! 

 

Back by popular demand, Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah, a fresh reimagined twist on Handel’s classic masterpiece, theMessiah, returns to The Auditorium (50 E. Ida B Wells Drive) in two glorious performances only, Saturday, January 11, 2025, at 6pm and Sunday, January 12, 2025, at 3pm. 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.

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. Then the music begins, bringing to life, in sweeping grandeur, the biblical text and power of the gospel, backed by a soul-stirring 70-member Chicago choir, honoring historic church choral traditions. Joining them are stand-out solo vocalists Alfreda Burke (soprano), Rodrick Dixon (tenor), and Karen-Marie Richardson (alto), solo instrumentalists CSO assistant concert master David Taylor and CSO cellist Richard Hirschl, and star solo pianist Alvin Waddles, all accompanied by both a chamber orchestra and a new-to Too Hot to Handel jazz combo, the Chicago Collective Rhythm Section.

New in 2025, more great Chicago talent joins the roster: George Stelluto - music director of the Peoria Symphony Orchestra who’s conducted around the world including at the Ravinia Festival, San Franscisco Symphony, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and more- will serve as Music Director and Conductor, and nationally-renowned music director, conductor, composer and keyboardist extraordinaire Fred Nelson III – who’s currently serving as music director for Jennifer Hudson’s The Gift of Love national tour and whose credits also include working with Aretha Franklin, Jennifer Holliday and Anita Baker – will serve as the jazz bandleader while wowing the audience with his acclaimed chops on the Hammond B organ.

Rounding out the creative roster are veteran Old St. Patrick’s Church choir director William Fraher, again leading the Too Hot to Handel choir, and musical theater pro and cabaret vocalist Joan Curto returns as Director.

“Audiences should look forward to two unforgettable concert experiences at The Auditorium in the new year, as we welcome back Too Hot to Handel,” said The Auditorium CEO Rich Regan. “In addition to the talented trio of soloists Too Hotconcertgoers have come to count on for their passionate vocal interpretations – Alfreda, Rod, and Karen-Marie – making his Too Hot debut on the Hammond B organ and leading a new-to Too Hot to Handel rhythm section will be Chicago’s own Fred Nelson III. We couldn’t be more thrilled to add this new energy!”

Created in 1992 as a collaboration between acclaimed conductor Marin Alsop with orchestrators and arrangers Bob Christianson and Gary Anderson, 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.

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