LISA DENTON: You know, Barry, I do well to get through "Jingle Bells" without my voice cracking - or that wacky part of my brain changing the lyrics to "jingle bells, shotgun shells ..."
BARRY COURTER: "Batman smells and Robin laid an egg ..."
LISA: Exactly. Well, there's a chance for real singers to shine Sunday at First Seventh-day Adventist Church in East Brainerd.
They're doing a "Messiah" sing-along. Several professional singers will do the heavy lifting, but the audience is invited to join in on the choruses - "Hallelujah!"
Lisa Denton and Barry Courter
BARRY: I don't remember any altered lyrics for that one from my days as a 12-year-old. I think even my Catholic school classmates knew when to fly right.
LISA: I'm still waiting for someone to do "12 Days of Christmas" like Lucille Ball did on "The Lucy Show." Remember, she gave all those visual cues so the boys choir she was conducting could remember when the drummers and milkmaids and all those different birds came in. You don't get body language like that with most Christmas songs.
BARRY: She was a comedic genius. Speaking of genius, guitar god Joe Bonamassa is at Memorial Auditorium tonight. I wonder if he'll pick a holiday tune or two. You know I love Christmas music and holiday songs done on a guitar by a really good player. Something different than the Burl Ives, Andy Williams stuff. I love that too, but different is good, right?
LISA: Different is fine. I have friends whose wedding invitation described them as "different ... yet alike." Now that they've been married 26 years, they laugh that it should have said, "different ... yet different." But that's OK. Different keeps things interesting.
Joe Bonamassa should be a great show. He said in an interview that he doesn't expect kids will follow in his footsteps because they do all things digitally now. But I think watching him perform should be some powerful motivation.
BARRY: It will be great. So too, I'm betting, will be the Chattanooga Theatre Centre's production of "Beauty and Beast." It opens Friday. Who doesn't love a talking and singing lamp called Lumiere or a clock named Cogsworth?
LISA: It's a beautiful story, and the Theatre Centre is bringing it back by popular demand, so you know it's a favorite. The only problem I'll have is remembering that this production isn't a sing-along like "Messiah." My inner Celine Dion sounds fine in the shower, but I really shouldn't let her out in public.
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Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354. Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281.