Too Hot to Handel turns up the heat on a holiday tradition at the Detroit Opera House

Staff Pick

By Jerilyn Jordan

Dec 12, 2019 at 4:56 pm

Audio By Carbonatix

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Too Hot to Handel turns up the heat on a holiday tradition at the Detroit Opera House

Screengrab / YouTube

For some, the reason for the season is not the promise of AirPods under the tree.

Billed as an annual Detroit holiday tradition, Too Hot to Handel breathes some vibrant energy into George Frideric Handel’s 1741 oratorio Messiah. Unlike the stuffy opera setting that sitcom therapist Frasier Crane frequently relishes in, clapping, foot-stomping, and even yelling are encouraged because Too Hot to Handel is what happens when opera meets Sunday service. Soloists Rodrick Dixon, Alfreda Burke, and Karen Marie Richardson will be backed by Detroit jazz greats Marion Hayden, Alvin Waddles, and Dave Taylor.

Performance begins at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14, at the Detroit Opera House; 1526 Broadway St., Detroit; 313-237-7464; michiganopera.org. Tickets are $60+.

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