A Carol for Two

I always enjoy the Broadway performers who turn up in Hallmark Christmas movies, and this was no exception. Admittedly I like a musical, so this was right up my alley! Wonderful vocals in all the performances, and the acting was just great too. The cousin was a doofus, but the other characters and the storyline easily kept my interest. Loved Ginna in A Holiday Spectacular but wasn't familiar with Jordan before this. They were very good as leads and I thought had good chemistry. As everyone notes, the final song was fantastic. I'm sure I'll re-watch this movie in years to come, it's a good one!

A final singing number, which is quite catchy and fun, was not enough to save this Broadway dud from getting cancelled from my theater list. Our leads, Violette (Ginna Claire Mason) and Alex (Jordan Litz) work at as singing servers in New York. They have dreams of making it big on Broadway and we're supposed to be rooting for them.

The trouble is the Cyrano de Bergerac storyline where Alex feeds his cousin Brad (Gino Anania) all the info on Violette and somehow almost wins her over with his yule log (don't ask, it ain't sexy). As expected, it all comes crashing down.

Not to put too fine a point on this whole thing, but Brad is the worst. We could have had a helpless in love guy in this part, but he's made to be an absolute fool and a pure annoyance to everyone who knows him. Not loveable, but quite creepy. This character rips a star or two off this movie.

I enjoyed Mason in A Holiday Spectacular (2022, 6 stars) and the under appreciated A Heidelberg Holiday (2023, 7 stars). When she sings the final song, it's magic, but when she's made to sing public domain holiday songs, it's a waste.

Litz too, is better than the material he's given. Let the man sing! I see leading man for many years to come, if given the right material.

Cast Kudos: Hallmark veteran John B. Lowe in a cameo as the glitzy producer. Love that guy.

Alternate titles: Christmas comes to Broadway. Cast for Christmas. Singing for supper.

Originally aired on Hallmark Nov. 1, 2024. Watched Nov. 2, 2024.

I caught the last few minutes of this rom-com and was mesmerized by a catchy duet - Who Knew It'd Be You This Christmas? I liked the song so much I played it again a few times, then found the full movie on Peacock.

The two leads have amazing voices, but they haven't been in many movies, in fact, I didn't see any for him. Quick Google search, they've both had leads in Wicked! She's played Galinda and he's the current Fiyero on Broadway. Blew my mind! My favorite musical!

Their stage presence translates really well to this film and they have good chemistry together. Throw in a handful of classic Christmas songs, some great New York street scenes and you've got a great little movie. Time very well spent!

Just this morning, I thought it was too soon to hear Christmas songs on the radio. After this movie, chock-full of Christmas songs, I'm in the holiday spirit. And the movie theme's of singing wait staff prompted me to look and see if that themed Manhattan restaurant with the Broadway singing wait staff, Ellen's Stardust Diner, is still open. Google says yes! Need to go back there soon.

"Who knew, who knew it'd be you this Christmas?"

I love Christmas movies! However, I could not finish watching this movie. I could deal with the lead, Alex. He was beginning to show different levels so he had promise. The HUGE stumbling block was the over-the-top cousin, Brad. He was soooo bad; obnoxious and creepy. I couldn't take it anymore. I rarely quit a movie in the middle very often, this was the second one in as many days. It seems this year, Hallmark is striking out more than it's succeeding with inane scripts and subpar acting, or just doesn't have much of an acting pool of talent to choose from. I would recommend passing this movie by and finding an older Hallmark movie to watch.

I was fine with the movies storyline. Both leads can act and sing-would like to see them together with a better script. With a little more chemistry, they might become a very watchable duo. The owner of the restaurant did a great job-the cousin, not so much. He drug it down it by being so over-the-top. Perhaps that was the part he was supposed to play? But he needed a good bit more editing. And he needed to be believable. Movie needed a little more depth(why the lead was never, ever rightly irritated by his crass cousin, more of the bond between dad and daughter, and was Violette promised a part already in the show that never got off the ground). Anyway......it did have some very good moments. Enjoyed the final song too.