By Bart Greenberg***The duo of Stephanie Pope and Mark Nadler swept on to the stage at The Laurie Beechman Theatre for It’s Christmas Time in the City, bedecked in red and green electric lights to celebrate the holidays—all the holidays. As 
would be expected from these two dynamos, it was an evening of joy, a range of music and a selection of costume changes. But what made it especially special was that these were two people wo really seemed to like each other.
Among the outpouring of uptempo energy, there were some quiet moments, such as Pope’s gentle medley of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” (Lewis H. Redner, Philip Brooks) and “Who Would Imagine a King (Mervyn Warren, Hallerin Hilton Hill) and Nadler’s sensitive and sensuous “Come a Little Closer” (John Wallowich) and “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” (Jule Styne, Samm Cahn). And there was the further ecumenical mash up duet of “A Song for Christmas” (C
arroll Coates) and “We Are Lights” (Stephen Schwartz, Steve Young), which played to the hearts of the audience.
But the highlights of the evening were unquestionably the up tunes. Pope had great fun with a swinging “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” (J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie) and Nadler scored with the raucous “The Hanukkah Song” (Adam Sandler). Then there was the demonstration of certain unexpected yoga positions!
The emotional highlight of the evening was Nadler’s tales of his grandparents and their journey to the United States, which led into a medley from the musical Ragtime by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty; it was a performance of towering musicality and deep emotions. Moments such as these make any cabaret show outstanding.
