Cabaret singer Libby Whittemore’s making a list, checking it twice

Beloved Atlanta performer Libby Whittemore brings her cabaret act — and loyal fan base — back to Actor’s Express for Ho Ho Home for the Holidays and A Connie Sue Day Christmas from Dec. 6-21. For years Whittemore honed the show with longtime music director Robert Strickland at the now closed club Libby’s, A Cabaret. A self-described “Christmas idiot,” Whittemore sings secular holiday standards in the first act, and in the second half takes the stage as her high-haired alter ego Connie Sue Day, “the 31st Lady of Country Music.” Here, she lists some of her essential Christmas songs from the show, in addition to “Have Yourself a Very Merry Christmas.”

1. “Christmas Time is Here:” “In the first part of show I talk about when I was little and my family traditions, so I sing this from the TV special ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas.’ Every time you bring up memories from childhood, it’s funny. Every year I try to watch ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ and ‘Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer,’ and I definitely watch White Christmas.”

2. “Santa Baby:” “I don’t like any of the Christmas novelty songs, like ‘Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer,’ except for ‘Santa Baby.’ Eartha Kitt definitely put her own stamp on it. I’m not trying to do a better version than her, I’m just trying to do it justice. It’s Eartha Kitt, for God’s sake.”