POP MUSIC REVIEW : Holiday Show Lacks the Claus That Refreshes

No Santa. No Rudolph. And none of that Frosty the Snowman nonsense for the Christian pop singers who gathered Saturday night at The Pond to celebrate the religious roots of Christmas with familiar carols and a misguided “update” of Handel’s epic “Messiah.”

The cast for the three-hour concert included Grammy-winners Steven Curtis Chapman and CeCe Winans, a 24-piece orchestra, a 200-voice choir and a pair of dancers who did their best on an awkward, cross-shaped stage. It was a scene reminiscent of those old holiday TV specials, except this show was at times remarkably somber and humorless.

Much of the blame rested with the material, specifically “The Young Messiah,” an attempt to recast the 18th-Century baroque oratorio for contemporary ears. Performances of popular carols were moderately effective, but “The Young Messiah” fell flat.

The piece (recorded in 1990 and re-recorded with a larger cast last year) is bland pop that uses the most middle-of-the-road formulas available, often amounting to little more than the addition of a funky beat or a tenor sax to Handel’s string passages; it’s about as meaningful as the old “Hooked on Classics” disco-classical medley. Call this “contemporary?” Even Bing Crosby was adventurous enough in his final days to sing “The Little Drummer Boy” with David Bowie, then not quite past his cross-dressing phase.

Some rousing moments did emerge via singer Winans, who enjoys successful R & B and gospel careers with her brother, BeBe. Her capable pipes lent some musical credibility. Likewise, Larnelle Harris’ soulful take on “O Come All Ye Faithful” carried as much spiritual weight as a month of Sunday sermons.

The biggest draw was Chapman, whose warm, folksy tenor has brought him to the brink of crossover success with secular audiences. During his local solo appearances last year, the singer from Kentucky bounded excitedly across stages with his acoustic guitar, but at The Pond he was strangely immobile in his tux, as if the faux-solemnity of “The Young Messiah” left him with nary a kick or shuffle to liven things up.

By contrast, superslick crooner Carman preached his way into the song “Amen” by retelling the story of Christ’s resurrection with a few new embellishments, including an earthquake and a flight of frantic birds that would have suited Alfred Hitchcock.