When Suzanne Mallare Acton conducted the first “Too Hot to Handel” show in Detroit nearly 22 years ago, it was nerve-wracking.
Each number had a different style, mixing in elements of jazz, gospel, blues and R&B music. Also on Acton’s mind: “How will the audience react to this?”
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But once the Rackham Choir and its accompanying band closed out their last song inside the Little Rock Baptist Church that March day in 2002, Acton realized she had nothing to worry about.
“It was amazing…the response that we got,” she said. “And you know immediately you’re not in your grandfather’s ‘Messiah’ anymore.”
Later that year, the group performed “Too Hot to Handel” at the Detroit Opera, and it became an annual Detroit tradition. After taking a four-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Rackham Choir is bringing the show back to the downtown Detroit venue for its 20th anniversary. It’s a perfect fit for a city that has a long history of churning out iconic singers across many genres.
The Jan. 13 event will feature soloists Rodrick Dixon, Alfreda Burke and Karen Marie Richardson, as well as Detroit musicians Alvin Waddles, Marion Hayden and Dave Taylor. Tickets start at $30.
Before the show, the city of Detroit’s Office of Arts, Culture and Entrepreneurship, Rackham Choir and Ralco Industries are hosting a free panel discussion Sunday at Marygrove Theatre, 8425 W. McNichols Rd.
“Mighty Sounds: The Legacy of Detroit’s Jazz and Gospel” will feature panelists like Waddles, jazz critic and former Detroit Free Press reporter Mark Stryker and radio host and former University of Michigan-Dearborn professor Deborah Smith Pollard. ACE Director Rochelle Riley will moderate the discussion. Guests can RSVP on Eventbrite; the event is free and starts at 3 p.m.
Acton, the conductor and music director of “Too Hot to Handel,” is excited that audiences will once again get to experience the jazz and gospel remix of the 1741 oratorio by George Frideric Handel on the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus.
“When we’re in the Opera House performing, we’re all together and you can just hear the joy in the audience, this roar after we’re done,” she said. “It’s connecting with people, and that’s what I wanted.”
From Detroit church to the big stage
The concept of “Too Hot to Handel” was created by conductor Marin Alsop and co-arranged by Bob Christianson and Gary Anderson. The show made its debut at New York City’s Lincoln Center in 1993. As the modern reimagining spread across the country, Acton was interested in bringing the show to Detroit, she said. After conducting a performance of the original Handel’s “Messiah” in 2001, Acton went out to dinner with Dixon and told him about a new version of the show she had heard about. Dixon replied that he performed “Too Hot to Handel” a couple of weeks ago in another city and pulled out the score from his bag.
“I looked at it and said, ‘Oh, this has got to come to Detroit’ because it has so many things to offer that feature our musicians,” Acton said. “It’s jazz, it’s gospel. There’s something for everybody, and I thought this is a great way of connecting our communities together.”
Acton invited Michigan Opera Theatre founder David DiChiera to the first performance at Little Rock Baptist, which prompted him to move “Too Hot to Handel” to the Opera House in December 2002.
Dixon said the show has been held in Chicago, where he is a regular performer, as well as Memphis, St. Louis, Florida and even as far away as London and Poland.
“It has a real legacy and it also has a lot of credibility musically. And it’s a fun show and people just love it,” he said.
While Dixon has performed the show several times over the years, the tenor said “Too Hot to Handel” stays fresh because he remembers that music can be a way to unite people.
“The music always brings us back to a place where everybody can’t fight and argue,” he said. “And when you put scripture and you put beautiful music together and people who are passionate about expressing something…the lights go down and people begin to get still and be reminded that they are human, and they do matter.”
For Waddles, he likes that the performance is different every time. He has been the pianist for “Too Hot to Handel” since the beginning.
“Even though it’s the same movements and the same music, there’s a lot of improvisation allowed, no performances are ever the same,” Waddles said. “It can be drastically different from year to year. We feed off one another.”
Rhythm and praise
Pollard, the panelist, said she remembers seeing “Too Hot to Handel” when it first premiered in Detroit, immediately enjoying the orchestra and choir. She has always enjoyed the original “Messiah” but like the twist the update brought to the table.
“To me, the gospel is the message and so, I like it when it’s delivered in different ways,” Pollard said.
Pollard, who co-hosts “Sunday Morning Inspiration” on Mix 92.3 FM, will discuss the history of gospel music in Detroit for the “Mighty Sounds” panel. This includes going back to the 1950s with pastor and singer Rev. James Cleveland recording his first hit record in Detroit, to more contemporary gospel artists like the Clark Sisters, the Winans family and Kierra Sheard.
“Detroit gospel has been a game changer, not only for this city or this state, but around the world,” Pollard said. People appreciate Detroit gospel and even if I can’t name every single artist, I appreciate what all of them brought to the genre.”
While Acton has conducted “Too Hot to Handel” in Chicago and Memphis, she said there’s nothing like performing it in her hometown of Detroit. Like Dixon, Acton said she hopes the performance next week can bring people together in a time of division.
“We have people from all religions, all cultures and different experiences, different places,” she said. “We bring them together in unity with music.”