Christmas on Broadway

The ninth piece in the concert, entitled Christmas on Broadway, was arranged by John Higgins (see below) in 2006.

The arrangement is written to be a grand finale of a high school holiday concert, with parts for band, choir and string orchestra available (but not required for the music to sound complete as a piece for band).

Celebrations of Christmas have been included in some of Broadway’s most popular musicals. White Christmas is the most popular Christmas musical, but songs from that musical are not included in this medley. A Christmas Carol, of course, got its start as a short book, but eventually was adapted into plays, films and now a musical. One of the songs of this medley comes from that musical. One other musical, originally titled Here’s Love, has a Christmas time setting, but is less well-known. Four of the songs in this medley are drawn from three other musicals which do not have Christmas as their main setting.

The first two songs of the medley come from Meredith Willson’s 1963 musical Here’s Love. Based on the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street, it tells the tale of a skeptical young girl who doubts the existence of Santa Claus. When the real Kris Kringle is hired inadvertently to represent jolly St. Nick in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, he must convince the child and her cynical divorced mother (the department store's special events director) that he is the genuine article. At the direction of the Meredith Willson Estate and the show's licensing agent, Music Theatre International, the show has subsequently been retitled Miracle on 34th Street - The Musical.

Meredith Willson (1902-1984) is perhaps best known for writing the book, music, and lyrics for the 1957 hit Broadway musical The Music Man. Willson wrote three other musicals, two of which appeared on Broadway, and composed symphonies and popular songs. He was twice nominated for Academy Awards for film scores.

The first song in our medley, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”, was written in 1951, six years before it was used in Here’s Love. The song has been recorded by many artists, but was first a hit for Perry Como and the Fontane Sisters with Mitchell Ayres and His Orchestra in September 1951. Bing Crosby recorded a version in October 1951, which was also widely played.

A popular belief in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, holds that Willson wrote the song while staying in Yarmouth's Grand Hotel. The song refers to a “tree in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well...”; the park being Frost Park, directly across the road from the Grand Hotel, which still operates in a newer building on the same site as the old hotel. It also makes mention of the five and ten which was a store operating in Yarmouth at the time. It is also possible that the “Grand Hotel” Willson mentions in the song was inspired by the Historic Park Inn Hotel in his hometown of Mason City, Iowa. The Park Inn Hotel is the last remaining hotel in the world designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and is situated in downtown Mason City overlooking Central Park.

For the musical, Willison wrote a partner song, “Pine Cones and Holly Berries”, which is sung in counterpoint to “It’s Beginning…” in both the first and second acts of the musical. In our medley, it is added on the second iteration of “It’s Beginning…” by the trombones and euphonia.

The next two songs in the medley, “Toyland” and “March of the Toys” were written for the 1903 operetta Babes in Toyland. It was composed by Victor Herbert with a libretto by Glen MacDonough, which wove together various characters from Mother Goose nursery rhymes into a musical extravaganza. Following the extraordinary success of their stage musical The Wizard of Oz, which was produced in New York beginning in January 1903, producer Fred R. Hamlin and director Julian Mitchell hoped to create more family musicals. MacDonough had helped Mitchell with revisions to the Oz libretto by L. Frank Baum. Mitchell and MacDonough persuaded Victor Herbert to join the production.

Babes in Toyland features some of Herbert's most famous songs – among them “Toyland”, “March of the Toys”, “Go to Sleep, Slumber Deep”, and “I Can't Do the Sum”. The theme song “Toyland”, and the famous purely instrumental piece from the operetta, “March of the Toys”, occasionally show up on Christmas compilations, but in the original operetta, there is no mention of Christmas.

The fifth song in medley, “My Favorite Things”, comes from Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II’s last musical, The Sound of Music, introduced in 1959. In the original musical, the young postulant (the first step in becoming a Catholic nun), Maria, is despondent after she has caused some trouble. The Mother Abbess, sings the song to and eventually with Maria to cheer her up.

Julie Andrews, who had first performed the song in a 1961 Christmas special for The Garry Moore Show, reprised “My Favorite Things” in 1965 when she starred as Maria in the film version of the musical. Maria sings the song to and eventually with the Von Trapp children to calm them during a thunderstorm.

Though the song mentions many holiday and winter time images including warm woolen mittens, packages, sleigh bells, snowflakes, and silver white winters, the song has no direct connection to Christmas. Nonetheless, the song has become a staple on radio and in advertising during the holiday season.

The sixth song in the medley, “We Need a Little Christmas” originated in Jerry Herman's Broadway musical Mame, and was first performed by Angela Lansbury in that 1966 production. In the musical, the song is performed after Mame has lost her fortune in the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and decides that she, her young nephew Patrick, and her two household servants “need a little Christmas” to cheer them up. Though the song obviously pertains to Christmas, the musical is centered around the indomitable spirit of its main character and Christmas time is a very small part of the production.

The final song in our medley, “God Bless Us, Everyone” comes from the 1994 musical A Christmas Carol, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and book by Mike Ockrent and Lynn Ahrens. The musical is based on Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella of the same name. The show was presented annually at New York City's Theater at Madison Square Garden each December from 1994 until 2003. It became a television film in 2004, and has had numerous productions in America and London.

In the musical, one notable departure from Dickens’ novella occurs during Ebenezer Scrooge’s visit with The Ghost of Christmas Past. In the musical, it depicts Scrooge’s father, identified as John William Scrooge, being sentenced to debtors’ prison while his horrified family looks on. This scene was inspired by an actual occurrence from Dickens’ own childhood. It is just after this trial scene that an 8 year old Ebenezer, his age 6 sister Fran and their mother sing the song.

In the 2009 animated Christmas fantasy film version of A Christmas Carol, a different song with the same title of “God Bless Us, Everyone” is used film’s theme song. It was written by Glen Ballard and Alan Silverstri and performed by Italian classical crossover tenor Andrea Bocelli. But the song in our medley is the original song from the musical. In fact, our medley was written before Silvestri and Ballard wrote the new song of the same title.

Arranger John Higgins (b. 1948) is Managing Producer/Editor for Hal Leonard Corporation, the nation's largest publisher of printed music. He began in the music field as the student arranger for the University of Michigan Band under Dr. William D. Revelli, and gained invaluable experience as a public school music teacher in suburban Chicago. John served as Illinois president of the American String Teachers Association, and his school concerts featured renowned soloists and conductors such as Skitch Henderson, Charlie Byrd, and Arthur Fiedler of the Boston Pops. A co-author of the Essential Elements series of band methods, John is best known for his many compositions and arrangements for choirs, bands and orchestras. As a composer of children's songs, he has collaborated with notables like John Jacobson, Roger Emerson and Emily Crocker on musicals such as How Does Your Garden Grow? and A Storybook Christmas.

John has also arranged and produced a large catalog of children's music, including The Runaway Snowman, Peace Child, and Leslie Bricusse's Scrooge. His recording production for McGraw-Hill's Share The Music textbook series included music from Sesame Street, Disney films and a special project with the late Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. In two recent series of Broadway shows for young performers, John arranged and produced new versions of Annie, Guys & Dolls, Fiddler on the Roof, The King and I, and The Music Man. His two Grammy award-winning projects include arranging on Sandi Patti's Another Time, Another Place (Best Pop Gospel Album) and co-producing on Rob McConnell's Live in Digital (Best Big Band Jazz Album). He recently orchestrated and conducted the music for the stage premiere of Willy Wonka at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. John served as president of Jenson Publications before it became a part of the Hal Leonard Corporation. In addition to his writing and producing activities, he maintains an active role in music education as a guest conductor, clinician and author.

The music for Christmas on Broadway was purchased for the band by Carol and Rob Sturza.