POP MUSIC REVIEW : ‘Colors of Christmas’: A Rainbow of Yule, Pop Hits

Holiday cheer, pop hits, and smooth showmanship produced an evening of feel-good entertainment Wednesday night at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, as the “Colors of Christmas” concert came to the stylish venue’s in-the-round stage for a second season.

This year’s program brought together singers Peabo Bryson, Roberta Flack, James Ingram and Sheena Easton, each getting a chance to perform separately and in a variety of duets. On Wednesday, the first of three sold-out performances, the vocalists were indeed colorful, but Christmas classics were given short shrift, with more time being spent on the individual performers’ hits.

In some cases, the hits still made satisfying holiday treats. Flack’s gracefully smoky voice remains a remarkable instrument, and her revamping of “Killing Me Softly” was powerful and moving. So was her duet with Ingram on “Where Is the Love,” which started as a slow-burn blues and then kicked into uptempo soulfulness.

Bryson is a charismatic performer with a skilled set of pipes, and his take on Mel Torme’s “The Christmas Song” was a Yuletide highlight of the evening. His vocal flash sometimes approached overkill, but his playfulness and easygoing manner kept his performances enjoyable.

Although Ingram occasionally worked himself into distracting histrionics, he was particularly strong in duets--with Easton on “We’ve Got Tonight” and Bryson on “Yah Mo B There.”

Easton reached out to the holiday-weary by explaining that the true meaning of Christmas was not in Santa, reindeer or snowmen, but in post-shopping depression. Then she belted out an over-the-top version of “I Believe,” which she said summed up her thoughts about Christmas.

The spunky singer knows how to hold a stage and work a crowd, but she wouldn’t let a simple melody do its job, often piling on melisma and flourishes to the point of grating melodrama. Her forceful style finally was put to good use on a Spector/Springsteen-style rave-up of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.”

Though Christmas was in the air, the concert had some strange musical moments. Flack paid tribute to Baby Jesus with a tender, hushed “What Child Is This?,” but James Bond also got his due with Easton’s hyper-intense “For Your Eyes Only.”

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Ingram made an odd choice by performing his hit “I Don’t Have the Heart,” a song pretty short on glad tidings. And the evening’s showstopper wasn’t any Santa tune, but “A Whole New World” from Disney’s “Aladdin,” sung by Bryson and Easton.

The well-dressed family crowd didn’t seem to mind the departure from holiday favorites and often clapped along or hooted out encouragement to whomever held the stage. Bryson and Ingram both took advantage of the intimate performance area and worked their way into the crowd as they sang.

The performers were backed with serviceable, workmanlike arrangements from a small orchestra. The players created some affecting passages on softer ballads but too often sounded stiff, especially on an awkwardly funky stab at “Joy to the World.”

The singers occasionally were drowned out by heavy-handed drumming. They were better served by the stirring support of the Crenshaw High School Choir on several tunes.

The singers engaged in some treacly patter between songs and worked in a few shameless plugs for current albums, but mostly they exuded seasonal good will. The concert closed with all four on stage, tearing into a rousing gospel number that brought the house to its feet.