New York, NY (Top40 Charts) In a series of intimate evenings full of music, laughter and special guests, musician
Judith Owen and her husband, actor and humorist Harry Shearer (The Simpsons, Spinal Tap), will once again spread their special brand of yuletide cheer for the 10th anniversary of the Christmas Without
Tears Tour.
A tradition that began in Shearer and Owen's
Santa Monica home, these annual gatherings have grown into a heartwarming house party around the piano that involves and entertains fellow performers and audience members alike. Since 2005, when the first public performance was staged at the Walt Disney Concert Hall to aid the people of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, Christmas Without
Tears has been a guilt-free way of having fun and giving back: ALL proceeds go to charities, with performances from the 2015 Tour benefiting the Brooklyn Academy of
Music (BAM), the
Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF), My Friend's Place, the New Orleans Musicians Clinic & Assistance Foundation and Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre.
A reverent and irreverent antidote to the most stressful of seasons, each evening includes both invited performers and surprise guests who drop into Harry and Judith's onstage living room and share a song or a joke to bring the holiday spirit to all. Song selections range from the sentimental ("
Winter Wonderland" and "Have Yourself a Merry
Little Christmas") to the irreverent ("F&*k Christmas" and "Jesus Was a Dreidel Spinner"). Comics, magicians, female impersonators and even a somber clown have been welcome additions, adding the perfect mix that makes this a true variety show.
Past revelers have included Donald Fagen,
Christopher Guest, Tom Hanks, Jane Lynch, Steve Martin, Stephen Merchant, Tim Minchin, Catherine O'Hara,
Martin Short, Richard Thompson and Weird Al Yankovic, to name but a few. This year's guests include Fred Willard,
Mario Cantone, Alan Cumming, Olympia Dukakis, Bela Fleck, John Michael Higgins, Paul Shaffer and many more!
As an added holiday treat, Judith, Harry and friends will release 'Christmas Without Tears' EP on November 20th, a new collection of original songs, which carries on the reverent and irreverent tradition of the Christmas Without
Tears performances. The EP will include songs by
Judith Owen, Harry Shearer, Amy Engelhardt, Fred Willard and Catherine O'Hara. All sale proceeds will be donated to the
Elton John AIDS Foundation.
A throwback to simpler times, this homespun variety show is both festive romp and salve for the soul, serving as a reminder to all that Christmas is a time to be with the ones you love...and sometimes, even family!
Christmas Without
Tears 2015 Tour:
Tuesday December 1 - Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City
Friday, December 4 - S.P.A.C.E. in Evanston, IL
Saturday, December 19 - Largo at the Coronet, Los Angeles
Sunday, December 20 - Largo at the Coronet, Los Angeles
Wednesday, December 23 - Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre, New Orleans
Christmas Without
Tears EP Track Listing:
1. The Best Things -
Judith Owen
2. (I'll Sing) Silent Night For You -
Judith Owen
3. Too Many Notes (ft. Jane Lynch, Alice Russell, Ian Shaw, Davell Crawford and Dave Koz) - Harry Shearer
4. How Did This Thing Get In Me? (Live at Largo) - Amy Engelhardt
5. The True Story Of Christmas (Live at Largo) - Fred Willard
6. What Do You Get For The Man Who Has Nothing? (Live at Largo) - Catherine O'Hara
About Harry Shearer
The multi-hyphenate Harry Shearer is an author, actor, director, and musician. For the past two decades, he has voiced the characters of Mr. Burns, Smithers, and Ned
Flanders on America's longest-running sitcom, The Simpsons. Among his many film roles, he is best known for his collaborations with
Christopher Guest in several "mockumentary" films including This is Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration. In 2010, Shearer wrote and directed The Big Uneasy, an investigative documentary feature about Hurricane Katrina, which was selected for numerous film festivals and won several awards. His albums CD Songs of the Pointed and Pointless and Songs of the Bushmen, full of bitingly satirical songs and impersonations of political figures, were both nominated for Grammys. He is a co-founder, with his wife
Judith Owen, of Twanky Records and the host of Le Show, a weekly syndicated radio show.
About
Judith Owen
Welsh singer-songwriter
Judith Owen has released eight albums, beginning with her 1996 debut Emotions On A Postcard and most recently, Ebb & Flow. Over the years Owen and Shearer have joined forces on numerous comedy albums, satirical videos, and theatrical productions. In addition to her prolific solo work, she has been musician Richard Thompson's female foil of choice for many years. Both have appeared on each other's albums and Owen played a leading collaborative part in Thompson's projects 1000 Years Of Popular
Music and Cabaret of Souls. She also co-created Losing It with Ruby Wax, a funny yet devastatingly honest two-woman show chronicling the descent into mental illness, which became a box office hit in London's West End in 2011. Owen has been touring worldwide for the past two years in support of her current critically acclaimed album, Ebb & Flow, a love letter to Laurel Canyon and the halcyon days of the great 1970s troubadours.
