It's that most wonderful time of the year, when the venerable San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus ushers in the holiday season. It's going to be a particularly busy season for Dr. Tim Seelig, the chorus' conductor and artistic director. Seelig and his singers are promoting the release of a new CD, rehearsing for a short tour of their annual Christmas show Holigays Are Here, and will perform their annual Christmas Eve concert at the Castro Theatre. The Castro performance is a different program from Holigays Are Here.
An upbeat and energetic Seelig chatted with the B.A.R. about his troupe's various projects. He first spoke about Festive: Four Years of Favorites, a CD now available for sale at the Chorus' website.
"It has been my privilege and joy to conduct SFGMC in four holiday concerts," Seelig said. "So we decided to take the best of those four years and release them on a new recording. Many of the 19 pieces are easily recognizable as holiday favorites from a wide variety of experiences."
Some of the CD's selections celebrate holidays other than Christmas. "Included is a beautiful set of variations on the Chanukah song 'Nerli,'" Seelig said. "'Auld Lang Syne' and "New Year's Carol" both describe post-holiday experiences. There's also a beautiful mash-up of the secular song 'The Rose' with the traditional 'Lo, How a Rose.'" Seelig added that 'New Year's Carol' was an original work commissioned by the Chorus.
"SFGMC does not have a venue to call home," Seelig pointed out. "The four years represent concerts performed at the Masonic Center, War Memorial Opera House, Davies Symphony Hall and Nourse Theater. It's not easy to find a concert home to fit 300 men."
Holigays Are Here will be performed at the Nourse Theater on Dec. 11 & 12. Seelig said that he was fond of the funky, atmospheric and historic old theater. "Nourse Theater is indeed a very special place in the hearts of the Chorus," he said. "It literally opened, after being refurbished, to our world premiere of I Am Harvey Milk. On a personal note, my husband and I were the first same-sex couple to be married in Nourse Theater, so it holds a very special place for me."
Holigays will include original Christmas compositions by Broadway and cabaret composers Ernie Lijoi and Lawrence Rush, and a world premiere by composer Laurie Karpman, set to a text written by author Rebecca Walker. Karpman's work is about the role that mothers play in our lives. Seelig also promises a fun collection of holiday favorites, and even a little choreography.
"To say that Holigays covers a wide gamut of experiences would be an understatement," Seelig said. "The shopping list for props included 300 tiaras attached to reindeer antlers, 300 baking tins attached to headbands, 300 red top hats with white fur hatbands, three grandma nightgowns, a hazmat suit, and a recycle bin and dancing fruitcake costume. There might be a sugar plum fairy or two, and maybe even a Rockette."
In addition to three performances at the Nourse, Holigays are Here will also perform in Santa Rosa (Wells Fargo Center), Walnut Creek (Lesher Center) and Berkeley (Freight and Salvage).
The Chorus will then return to the Castro Theatre for their annual Christmas Eve concert. Home for the Holidays has become an annual Castro tradition, one that began while the community was still reeling from the effects of the AIDS pandemic.
"This is the 25th anniversary of Home for the Holidays," Seelig explained. "In 1990 the Chorus decided to give a gift to the community by singing on that special night in that special place for the hundreds of men who were too sick to go home, or because they had been thrown out of their own homes. The first performance was so overwhelming for the audience and the singers, it became an instant tradition."
Seelig added that it was always great to see the Castro Theatre packed with "family" on Christmas Eve.
Home for the Holidays offers three Dec. 24 performances at the Castro Theatre: 5, 7 & 9 p.m. ($25-$40). Holigays Are Here plays the Nourse Theater on Fri., Dec. 11, 8 p.m., and Sat., Dec. 12, 2:30 & 8 p.m. ($25-$65). Ticket info: sfgmc.org/events.