Inside Milwaukee’s Sell-Out ‘Charlie Brown Christmas’ Concerts
Every December, The Commercialists’ concerts are some of the hottest tickets in town.
BY STEVEN POTTER
Plenty of things can spark your holiday spirit, like the scent of a freshly cut pine tree or that first bite of a gingerbread cookie. For many, it’s the jazzy, slightly melancholic soundtrack of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” by the Vince Guaraldi Trio.
As the piano player for The Commercialists, Anthony Deutsch knows better than most just how adored that music is: This winter will mark the 10th straight year his jazz trio has been playing a live rendition of the television special’s entire soundtrack at dozens of shows around Milwaukee and Wisconsin.
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Inside Milwaukee’s Sell-Out ‘Charlie Brown Christmas’ Concerts
Every December, The Commercialists’ concerts are some of the hottest tickets in town.
BY STEVEN POTTER
Plenty of things can spark your holiday spirit, like the scent of a freshly cut pine tree or that first bite of a gingerbread cookie. For many, it’s the jazzy, slightly melancholic soundtrack of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” by the Vince Guaraldi Trio.
As the piano player for The Commercialists, Anthony Deutsch knows better than most just how adored that music is: This winter will mark the 10th straight year his jazz trio has been playing a live rendition of the television special’s entire soundtrack at dozens of shows around Milwaukee and Wisconsin.
The idea originated with drummer Patrick Morrow as a one-off show at The Estate based on a fondness for the songs and as a tribute to Guaraldi. Then it snowballed.
“So far, I’ve booked us to play the show 67 times this winter,” Deutsch says. “This time of year, people want what they recognize and what they remember and this music is definitely that. It’s just been loved for so many years. It’s deep in the cultural memory.”
Debuting on TV in 1965, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” became a holiday must-watch for many families for several reasons, including its winding and emotional plot: poor Charlie Brown learning the spirit of the holiday by watching his friends transform a sad sapling into a beautifully decorated Christmas tree.
“It’s super wholesome and we tap into that,” says Deutsch. “We have some families that have been coming for several years and made it into their own tradition.”
To give the music a twist, Deutsch, Morrow and bandmate Clay Schaub on bass improvise during parts of some songs, layer in banter with the crowd and add some Christmas-themed poetry. The trio continues to play a series of intimate shows at The Estate – which sell out rapidly – as well as other larger venues like the Bradley Symphony Center and Turner Hall.
In the 80-minute show, folks have a wide range of favorites. Deutsch says the building piano and varied tempo of “Skating” is a standout. “You can really imagine the cartoon when you hear it.”
As for “Linus and Lucy”? “I always try to get people to do the weird dance,” he says. “We also have a lot of fun with ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’ because we turn it into a sing-along. I just tell people they don’t have to sing the words – they can hum or even grumble.”
Find show dates and more information at thecommercialistsmke.com.
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