‘A Soulful Christmas’ Marks Its 9th Year in NYC with Groove, Glory and Holiday Magic

The holidays are dusting themselves in gold glitter and vinyl this year as A Soulful Christmas: A Groovy Musical Revue returns to New York City for its ninth triumphant season.

For four radiant days: Dec. 18 through Dec. 21, 2025 , the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater will transform into a living, breathing time capsule, a 1970s soul-drenched wonderland where the beat is thick, the joy is communal, and the season feels reborn again.

Created by the unstoppable duo Kendrell Bowman and Anthony Wayne, A Soulful Christmas has earned high praise from Time Out New York and the New York Daily News, both declaring it the best holiday show in the city, a rare honor in a town overflowing with seasonal spectacle. But this revue stands apart because it isn’t merely performed; it’s lived, witnessed, shouted for, sung with. It hums with the spiritual electricity of Black music, Black memory, and Black joy across generations.

And in a time where so much of our cultural landscape feels splintered, this show returns like a reminder, a tambourine shaking at the doorway  that joy can still be a collective practice.

Stepping into the theater is stepping into “Groovy Wonderland,” a fictional Soul Train, styled holiday special that invites audiences not just to watch but to participate. The show invites everyone, families, couples, whole crews of friends  to come dressed in 1970s holiday flair and be part of the spectacle.

Inside, the stage pulses with the classics, The Temptations, The Jackson 5, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross and more. These songs aren’t merely nostalgic; they’re cultural lifelines, reminders of a lineage that taught us how to survive through bass lines and blooming harmonies. And hearing them in community, that’s the magic.

Over the years, A Soulful Christmas has drawn icons like Naomi Campbell and designer Marc Jacobs, all pulled in by its luminous spirit. Yet the show’s greatest achievement remains its impact on everyday people, the families who return year after year, the elders who sway to the songs of their youth, the children who discover the magic for the first time.

This year’s ensemble is led by Denzel Fields as Ron Cornelius, joined by Adia Lars, Asha Burtin, Dayna Richardson, Dominique Lee, Gerard M. Williams, Marissa Rudd, Varrick Nelson and Verdale Stinson, a cast built to lift the roof and leave the audience breathless.

Presented by Kendrell Bowman Productions LLC, the show is co-written by Bowman and Wayne, with music direction by Alonzo Harris. Choreography is led by Hollie E. Wright and Christopher Figaro Jackson, guiding movement that is both reverent and electric. Costume design by Richard Gross, lighting by Stephanie P. Freed, make-up by Kaye Trueblood, and wigs by Porsche Waldo/Ebony Design complete the sensory revival. Production Stage Manager Christelly Encarcion ensures the groove hits every mark.

In a season often flattened into consumerism and noise, A Soulful Christmas offers something more sacred, a return to the communal heartbeat, and a reminder that celebration is a form of resistance. That our joy, especially Black joy,  is not frivolous, but foundational.

This show doesn’t just entertain; it gathers us. And in the gathering, something beautiful takes shape.

Tickets are limited to six performances, and the groove waits for no one.