Gary Payne

Christmas at the Shell

“Noel Noel”, the San Diego Symphonies Christmas concert, was fun, festive, and full of holiday spirit. It was everything that December Nights in Balboa Park is not. “Noel Noel” had traditional Christmas songs instead of the bad rock ‘n’ roll cover bands at December Nights. It had high production values as opposed to the podunk productions at December Nights. “Noel Noel” also had a story it was trying to tell compared to the fundraiser vibe at December Nights.

I’m not trying to pit pieces of San Diego’s civic pride against each other. However, I will recommend “Noel Noel” to anyone looking to find some Christmas in a collective setting. I will not recommend December Nights to anyone unless they are dying to walk two miles to get to the park or wait for hours in a parking traffic jam that has a $30 fee at the end.

“Noel, Noel” started off with a rousing version of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”. Our guide for the evening entered not long after in the form of musical theater tenor Devin DeSantis. At first, I was a bit put off by the aggressive placement of DeSantis’s tone but he soon won me over as he softened and relaxed his voice while turning up the charm. 

DeSantis played the role of crooner in the first half of the concert. About halfway through the concert, a group of children, led by a young woman named Noel, started looking for Santa Claus. DeSantis portrayed a string of Santa imposters that included a surfer Santa and an uptight professorial Santa. The children tested each pretender and found that none of them were the true Santa.

The sketches that were presented between musical numbers had an innocent sense of humor that was refreshing. There was no sarcasm or sardonic takes on Santa as a primary player in the patriarchy. Santa was the spirit of Christmas.

The music was top-notch as well. I’m a big fan of mid-century Christmas fare and the inclusion of such classics as “The Christmas Waltz” and “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” made me confident in the Christmas chops of the musical programmer. 

Australian conductor Christopher Dragon led the concert and interacted with both the audience and the drama surrounding the fake Santas. His exuberant energy on the podium came through in the sound of both the orchestra and The San Diego Master Chorale.

I’ve often that San Diego is a town that just doesn’t do Christmas. On this night, I was wrong. “Noel Noel” did Christmas and did Christmas right.