All summer long, on Fire Island, I hear singer Brandon Cutrell (Broadway at the Beach, the After Party) sing the praises of Sandi Patty, a singer he idolizes. On December 18 (also 19), as part of her "Christmas Live" national tour, Sandi Patty came to Carnegie Hall to appear with the New York Pops, conductor John Morris Russell, and the Young People's Chorus (YPC) of New York City, directed by Francisco J. Núñez, in a program billed as "Celebrate the Holidays with Sandi Patty!" so I got to hear what all the shouting was about-at Carnegie and, later, at Brandon and Maestro Ray Fellman's After Party at the Laurie Beechman Theatre.

photo by Bruce-Michael Gelbert
Sandi Patty & Brandon Cutrell
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Versatile Patty lent a full and tangy 'pops' lyric soprano to a waltz medley, consisting of George Wyle and Edward Pola's "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" and Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn's "The Christmas Waltz" and there were high notes aplenty, as there were in the "Gloria in excelsis Deo" melismas in "Angels We Have Heard on High," with the YPC. Our diva switched to more of a jazz croon for Mel Tormé and Robert Wells' "The Christmas Song" and concluded her first set with dramatic accounts of the tale of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Civil War-time family and faith crises, and of Johnny Marks' setting of Longfellow's "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day."

Before Patty returned, we heard YPC in Nigerian carol "Betelehemu," by Babatunde Olatunji; Hawaiian carol "Mele Kalikimaka," complete with leis and hula hands, by Robert Alex Anderson; and a heartfelt "I Believe (in a wondrous place)," a recent work by Wesley Whatley and William Schermerhorn. Jeffrey Harris was at the piano for a selection of Chanukah songs and violinists Erica Kiesewetter and Sara Caswell were soloists for the Bach-Gounod "Ave Maria."

Patty and YPC again joined forces for an expansive "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee," adapted, by Henry van Dyke, from the fourth movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, with the diva's bright top note at the end. Patty and YPC took us "to church" with lively gospel selection "Jesus, Oh What a Wonderful Child," in which she fearlessly covered vocal territory from the earthy depths to the stratospheric heights. Patty offered simple and sincere renditions of Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," the Judy Garland number, with pianist Steve Potts, and of Robert Allen and Al Stillman's "Home for the Holidays" paired with Buck Rami, Walter Kent and Kim Gannon's "I'll Be Home for Christmas." Patty and spouse Don Peslis blended voices in a fervent bilingual-English and Italian-"The Prayer," by David Foster and Carole Bayer Sager, before she and YPC ended with a transcendent "O Holy Night," of Adolphe Adam, with a ringing conclusion. Patty, YPC, and the Pops' dulcet encore was Franz Xaver Gruber and Josef Mohr's "Silent Night," with the audience invited to sing along.

Next on tap for the New York Pops and its Music Director, Steven Reineke, are "Celtic Music: a St. Patrick's Day Celebration," on March 12, and "The Best of Lerner and Loewe," with Kelli O'Hara and Paulo Szot, on April16. Visit www.carnegiehall.org, call CarnegieCharge at 212/247-7800, or go to the Carnegie Hall box office on 57th Street at Seventh Avenue for tickets.

Leave it to Brandon Cutrell to pull off the holiday miracle that followed the Carnegie concert: an After Party tribute to Sandi Patty, with more than a dozen performers delivering Patty's music in her presence, and some songs sung by the tireless diva of the hour herself.

With Potts at the piano, down-to-earth Patty, "borrowing" a number written for Liza Minnelli, attempted to clear up any confusion with "(It's) Sandi with an 'i'/Patty with a 'y'." She followed it with a song of faith, "The Stage Is Bare (I need You, Lord)," which she wrote with Gloria Gaither.

Brandon, who honored Patty with hymns "Sunlight, Sunlight," "Do, Lord," "Victory in Jesus," and "He Lives," with Mark Hartman at the keyboard, and Tim DiPasqua's "You," one of his signature songs, with Ray, asked his idol, "Sandi, do you understand that you're a gay icon?" to which she responded, "I feel the love." Patty also joined a stunned Kristy Cates, who had just sweetly sung Patty's song "Bethlehem Morning," for the duet from Stephen Schwartz's "Wicked," "For Good," with Ray.

The After Party's Becca Johnson kicked off the Patty celebration with "Sandi Patty's Here," to the tune of "Christmastime Is Here," and Tituss Burgess sang and played the same song with the original words. Others who saluted Patty were operatic soprano Anne Christopherson ("Amazing Grace"); Marcus Paul James ("Via Dolorosa"); Brad Simmons ("O Lord, how majestic is Your name"); Danny Calvert ("Angels We Have Heard on High"); Ariel Sinclair, who came to Carnegie Hall in drag and commented "Sandi Patty sang 'O Holy Night'-Every hair on my back stood up" (Patty's version of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"-childlike, then rocking, then with wild coloratura variations); Kenny Holcomb ("I Hear the Bells on Christmas Day"); Shawna Hamic ("How great Thou art"); and Carey Anderson ("Indianapolis Indeed").

Patty's audience here was, if possible, even more worshipful than the one at Carnegie, and she graciously reciprocated with appreciation for all the other performers' efforts.
What an amazing night!