AN INTIMATE HOLIDAY CONCERT

Renée Elise Goldsberry does everything joyfully right;
And yes, it helps keep The Classical Theatre of Harlem thriving

Founded in 1999, The Classical Theatre of Harlem produces two to three shows a year and also conducts extensive educational programs. Since Ty Jones took over as Producing Artistic Director in 2009, the company has inaugurated “Future Classics,” a series of readings of new plays by emerging playwrights of color; “Project Classics,” an arts education program for youth in Grant and Manhattanville housing in partnership with the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA); and Uptown Shakespeare in the Park (USP) at the Richard Rodgers Amphitheater in Marcus Garvey Park. The company is a true Harlem treasure.

Kara Young

On December 15 downstairs at Ginny’s Supper Club — Red Rooster Harlem’s jewel-box performance space, seating barely 75 — Renée Elise Goldsberry offered a one-night-only holiday concert that felt less like a formal engagement and more like a communal exhale. Presented by The Classical Theatre of Harlem as a benefit for its cultural and educational programs, Harlem Holidays — hosted by the great Kara Young — turned the intimacy of the room into its greatest asset, allowing Goldsberry to perform as if with friends.

Renée Elise Goldsberry

The program moved fluidly between sacred and secular, Broadway and gospel, never settling into a predictable parade of seasonal favorites. Many familiar and not so familiar holiday songs, including “Silent Night,” “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve” were delivered with warmth and stylistic ease, while other selections leaned into spiritual reflection, allowing the evening to breathe rather than rush headlong toward holiday cheer.

Goldsberry, a Tony Award winner best known for originating Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton, possesses one of those rare instruments that commands attention even before it unleashes full power (she also played Mimi Marquez in Rent and Nettie Harris in The Color Purple). What distinguishes her isn’t sheer vocal muscle — though she has that in abundance — but interpretive intelligence. She treats lyrics as dramatic text, shaping phrases with an actor’s precision, letting silences land, and bending rhythm just enough to make familiar material feel freshly minted.

Backed by a tight, responsive band, Goldsberry was given room to play — stretching phrases, leaning into blues-inflected cadences, and letting the music breathe. The ensemble followed her instincts closely, creating the feeling of a living conversation rather than a locked-in set.

Broadway, of course, made its appearance. Goldsberry brought the house down with “Satisfied” and “The Schuyler Sisters” not as crowd-pleasing encores tossed off for applause, but as fully inhabited scenes. Her Rent Medley and “Sister” from The Color Purple served as reminders of a career defined not by marquee roles alone, but by a consistent commitment to storytelling through song.

The emotional center of the evening arrived with a medley of gospel selections that set the venue on fire, transforming the room into something approaching revival, followed later by an unexpectedly affecting rendition of Pachelbel’s Canon in D, reimagined as a moment of hushed reflection rather than baroque ornament. These were reminders that Goldsberry’s artistry isn’t about genre-hopping for novelty’s sake, but about finding the emotional through-line that connects disparate musical worlds.

Throughout the evening, the concert’s purpose was never far from view. Proceeds from Harlem Holidays directly support The Classical Theatre of Harlem’s mission to reimagine the classics through the lens of the African diaspora while nurturing emerging artists and expanding access to the arts. In a cultural moment marked by shrinking budgets and eroding support, the reminder felt both urgent and quietly defiant.

As the final notes faded, what lingered was not just the pleasure of a holiday concert well sung, but the sense of having been welcomed into a shared space — one where virtuosity served connection, and where “home” was defined less by tradition than by presence.

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photos by Joshua Pyram, 350 Studios LLC

Harlem Holidays
The Classical Theatre of Harlem benefit
Ginny’s Supper Club at Red Rooster Harlem, 310 Malcolm X Blvd.
reviewed on Monday December 15, 2025 at 8
for more info and upcoming programming, visit CTHNYC

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