Local singer-songwriter Tonya Nicole presents Hot Chocolate Holiday Harmony, a holiday show with a theatrical twist at 7 p.m. Dec. 28. This all-ages interactive performance at Queen Street Playhouse takes the form of a live podcast recording, featuring songs, stories and hot chocolate. Nicole and her fellow musicians infuse classic holiday songs with soul, R&B and jazz.
“Whenever I put on a show, I try to add an experience to it,” Nicole told the Charleston City Paper. “There’s got to be something else to keep the audience entertained.”
She will be joined on stage by Christian Smalls, known by her artist name Black Diamond, and JT Holmes. The three powerhouse vocalists will play holiday-loving podcasters who are performing a live show. Nicole, a PURE Theatre ensemble member, said this was a way to incorporate her love of theater into the production.
With the growing popularity of live recording podcasts, Nicole decided to create her own fictional podcast for the show, during which the audience will be able to test the musicians’ skills by calling out favorite holiday songs for them to perform.
This approach, Nicole said, was inspired by her experience as a theater kid, and later, a theater teacher. However, she said it’s singing she loves the most because it’s all about feeling.
“Singing sits in my body. … It feels like home,” she said. “I like to say that I never quite sing a song the exact same way. It depends how I’m feeling that day and where it sits in my heart.”
Nicole and Smalls, who performed during the MOJA on King Block Party Queens of Hip-Hop and Soul event in October, along with Holmes will be backed by Dave Grimm on guitar, Jonathan Lovett on piano, Ben Bennett on bass and Javan Campbell on drums.
Infusing classic tunes with soul, R&B and jazz comes easy to Nicole, who adds riffs and jazz runs to traditional songs, giving them new flavor.
“[These genres] all make you feel something,” she said. “Jazz is so improvisational. It’s the scats, the running, holding out notes, going low and going high.”
For a taste of Nicole’s genre-bending approach, you can listen to tracks “Cotton Candy” and “You Got Me” on her 2022 EP #1996KindaLove, she said.
The show is expected to run for an hour and 45 minutes with a 10-minute intermission, but Nicole said it could run for two hours if the audience is grooving. You can purchase tickets for the 7 p.m. Dec. 28 show at Nicole’s website, tonyanicolemusic.com or footlightplayers.net.
Help keep the City Paper free.
No paywalls.
No subscription cost.
Free delivery at 800 locations.
Help support independent journalism by donating today.
