BUST Magazine once called Ana Gasteyer “the magical love child of Astrud Gilberto and Lucille Ball” — a pairing that should produce cognitive dissonance and instead lands with precision. The Los Angeles Times was more technical about it: “ebullient big-band jazz” with “considerable vocal chops.” What both descriptions capture is something that Gasteyer’s television and comedy profile can obscure: she is, genuinely, a jazz vocalist who earned her critical notices honestly. The Sugar & Booze Holiday Spectacular brings that argument to Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs on Friday, December 11 at 7:30 p.m.
About the Show
The show centers on Gasteyer’s 2019 album Sugar & Booze, which reached the Billboard Jazz Top 5 and earned recognition on multiple “Best Holiday Album” lists. Billboard called it “an uproarious homage to Christmas albums of old”; the Los Angeles Times singled out its “delightfully swaggering” material. The album also generated an eight-episode Audible series featuring Maya Rudolph, Patti LuPone, and Rachel Dratch — a detail that suggests the project extended well past the margins of novelty. The Spectacular has become an annual touring production; the 2026 run covers multiple coasts, with Saratoga Springs among the December dates.
Gasteyer’s jazz credentials predate the holiday tour. She released her debut jazz album, I’m Hip, in 2014 and established a Café Carlyle residency, where Stephen Holden of The New York Times praised her “strong singing voice that can stir up a storm.” She has maintained a dedicated “Happy Jazz” touring act since 2016. Her broader résumé spans Emmy-winning status, a Saturday Night Live tenure from 1996 to 2002 (where she created Bobbie Moughan-Culp and impressions of Martha Stewart, Celine Dion, and Hillary Clinton), and Broadway credits that include Wicked, the Tony Award-winning Kimberly Akimbo (where she originated the role of Debra), the 2024 revival of Once Upon a Mattress, and this spring’s Schmigadoon! None of it crowds out the musical career.
“The only thing better than a holiday party is a holiday party with a horn section,” Gasteyer has said. “Can’t wait to get back on stage and get festive!”
Venue & Logistics
Universal Preservation Hall is at 25 Washington Street in Saratoga Springs, part of the capital region‘s winter presenting calendar. The December 11 performance begins at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets
No ticket price was available from sources at the time of publication. Buy tickets.