By Melissa Griegel…
Photos by Melissa Griegel Photography
The holiday season is upon us with Marieann Meringolo’s 19th Annual Holiday Show “In the Spirit” cabaret taking place at a sold-out Chelsea Table + Stage (152 W. 26th Street, NYC) on December 6th, 2025. The native New Yorker is much-loved on the cabaret scene, known for singing songs from the American Songbook and paying homage to legends such as Johnny Mathis and Dionne Warwick with tribute shows. Her winter holiday shows have become a staple for those wishing to usher in the holiday season with song.
Meringolo’s performance included many Christmastime favorites as well as a few less well-known holiday tunes, and there were even two Chanukah songs in the mix. Amongst the standards were “Silver Bells”, “Do You Hear What I Hear?”, and a “Silent Night”/”O Holy Night” medley. The latter was beautifully sung to the audience’s delight and accompanied vocally by pianist Doyle Newmyer. Another strong medley was her “A Child is Born”/Gesu Bambino”/”Mary Did You Know?” combination.
Her selection of more religious Christmas standards was broken up with some lighter fare including comical banter with Newmyer for “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”, playful antics for “Santa, Please be Mine”, and humorous lyrics for “It’s Christmas and We’re Jewish”. To the delight of the Jews in the crowd, myself included, Meringalo introduced us to a wonderfully moving Chanukah song called “A Chanukah Prayer” by Karen Bennedatto. Interestingly, the lyricist Bennadetto is not Jewish, but many of the most well-known Christmas songs were written by Jewish composers, including “Silver Bells”, “White Christmas”, and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”.
Several of the songs were written by friends of Meringolo’s, and two of them were even in the audience. Larry Kerchner, who composed “Winter in Manhattan” and Kurt Weiting, who co-wrote “Christmastime (It’s Time to Fall in Love)”, were both there to hear their works being sung. Friends Jane Bach (“Mistletoe and You”) and well-known cabaret great Ann Hampton Callaway (“God Bless My Family’) were there in spirit. “The first time I heard Calloway’s song “God Bless My Family” was in Provincetown in 1997 and it was so beautiful, I had tears streaming down my face,” Meringolo said prior to singing it as her encore.
We heard a bit about Christmases past in between songs, hearing about family holiday traditions on Long Island, her favorite album (The Little Drummer Boy), and even seeing a family photo. “As a kid, I loved snow days,” she said. “Who doesn’t love snow days?” She recounted the Blizzard of 1978 and building an igloo with her sister, who was in attendance, and showed a photo of family peering out said igloo.
Meringolo clearly loves this time of year and sings holiday songs with warmth and compassion, imbuing the songs with her love of lyrics that are meaningful to her. Along with Jeff Franzel and Tom Kimmel, Meringolo composed her first song, “In the Spirit”, which is out now as a single and can be downloaded here or your favorite streaming service. Her powerful singing voice and style has frequently been compared to Barbra Streisand. Meringalo has six solo albums and has done many collaborations. Click here for her complete music library.
This is Meringolo’s 26th year working with musical director and pianist Doyle Newmyer. They have an easy rapport, and Doyle sang along on several songs. He was accompanied by Leon “Boots” Maleson on bass and Brian Woodruff on drums.
