A Philly Holiday Spectacular

The Philly Pops bring A Philly Holiday Spectacular to Marian Anderson Hall at The Kimmel Center over three dates this December: Friday the 11th, Saturday the 12th, and Sunday the 13th. It's billed as the city's favorite holiday tradition, and the stage is packed with local favorites and a few big names.

Leading the way is conductor Chris Dragon, Music Director of the Philly Pops, the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, and the Colorado Symphony. He's led the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Sydney Symphony, and picked up an ARIA in 2016. On vocals, he's joined by Morgan James, a classically trained Broadway veteran whose videos have gathered more than 300 million views, and Ryan Shaw, a three-time Grammy nominee who played the original Stevie Wonder in Motown: The Musical on Broadway.

That's just the front line. The stage fills out with the Philly Pops Chorus, which has drawn more than 150 volunteer singers from Greater Philadelphia since it formed in 2002, the St. Thomas Gospel Choir, and the Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale. The Boys Choir has been around since 1968 and has been led by Jeffrey R. Smith since 2004; they're known as "America's Ambassadors of Song."

Between the Pops, the three choirs, and the guest vocalists, there are a lot of voices on one stage. The show runs Friday and Sunday at 7:30 PM and 7:00 PM, with a 2:00 PM matinee on Saturday, all at Marian Anderson Hall, 300 S Broad St.