Among the winter season’s many fussed-over traditions, there’s really only one that matters: revisiting Patti LaBelle’s brilliant performance at the White House’s National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in 1996.
Now the cast of Broadway’s The Book of Mormon, with help from The Lion King, Hamilton, and others, has given the joyous clip a proper hat tip.
First thing’s first, the original performance of “Last Christmas,” in which Patti deals with a host of challenges like an utter pro:
And here’s the Broadway homage:
prarie pup
To all you other performers out there–and I’m looking at you, Mariah Carey–THIS is how a PROFESSIONAL handles it when things go wrong (and something eventually will) during a live performance.
Kangol
Gotta love how the hot mess of that tree lighting ceremony clearly couldn’t stop Ms. Patti. And her voice! I mean, she can just make holding a note into the most beautiful, moving thing!
Ummmm Yeah
The old ghetto queen and her ghetto trash family permanently disabled a military cadet a few years ago because,he dared walk to close to her in an airport. That’s the only thing she should be remembered for.
InCA
The cadet was staggering drunk and shoved them first. A jury exonerated LaBelle’s entourage in 2014.
jpcolter
What a lying load of crap. Troll.
demetreus
You are just a sad nothing. Could there be anything worst than a commenting troll that doesn’t know how to spell and uses bad grammar? Fail.
dougeebear
FYI David: All the cast in the video appear in Book of Mormon. None are from Lion King or Hamilton, even though their Book of Mormon costumes may suggest they are.