Inside Lakewood, NJ’s Strand Theater this December 6, 2025 evening, in the air there’s a feeling of Christmas. Patrons are serenaded by a choir performing holiday songs in the lobby before they make their way into the venue’s historic auditorium decorated with holiday lights and trees for a Doo Wop Christmas performance starring The Doo Wop Project.
The Doo Wop Project is a vocal group dedicated to preserving and expanding the genre of doo wop music. The ensemble is comprised of five talented Broadway performers who have appeared in shows such as Jersey Boys, Motown: The Musical, Hairspray, and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
The lights dim and concert promoter James D’Amico welcomes the crowd and introduces The Doo Wop Project. John Michael Dias, Russell Fischer, Charl Brown, Dominic Nolfi, and Dwayne Cooper take the stage along with saxophonist Jay Davidson, bassist Yuka Tadano, drummer Joe Bergamini, and musical director/keyboardist Brent Frederick.
Opening with “Doo Wop Christmas” the quintet sings and swings as John Michael Dias croons, “Sleigh bells are ringing/Snowflakes are fallin’/Carolers singing out in the street” on this up-tempo Kenny Vance and the Planotones’ holiday tune.
The crowd responds with avid applause and the group launches into The Capri’s “Morse Code of Love” where music lovers joyfully clap along as the group sings in harmony on the tune’s infectious “Baby come home to me” refrain.
Segueing into the famous “Oo oo-oo, oo-oo oo-oo” intro of Bobby Day’s “Itty Bitty Pretty One,” the quintet exudes non-stop energy before musical director Brent Frederick plays a rockin’ solo on the keyboard and the medley segues back into “Morse Code of Love” where Russell Fischer shines singing lead.
After introducing themselves, the members of the Doo Wop Project perform a street corner rendition of The Tymes “So Much In Love,” where Dominic Nolfi croons, “As we stroll along together/Holding hands walking all along,” backed by moving a cappella harmonies.
Dwayne Cooper lies on the floor and sings as he and the group serenade the audience with an energetic rendition of The Fascinators’ doo wop tune, “Oh, Rose Marie.”
Dominic Nolfi thanks the audience for supporting live music and talks about growing up in an Italian family in San Francisco prior to expressively handling the lead on a doo wop version of the bluesy holiday song, “Please Come Home for Christmas.”
Charl Brown chats with the crowd, telling them that he played the role of Smokey Robinson in Motown: The Musical before lighting up the stage singing with style on a soulful interpretation of Robinson’s “Shop Around.”
Russell Fischer reveals that while growing up in the Garden State he got a large part of his musical education “listening to WCBS-FM radio 101.1’s Cousin Brucie” prior to making his Broadway debut in Jersey Boys. Going on to suggest that Santa’s wife, Mrs. Claus, has a first name, Fischer’s falsetto voice is featured on “Denise” before Jay Davidson’s saxophone growls on this upbeat Randy and the Rainbows’ rocker.
Dwayne Cooper explains how one of the major goals of The Doo Wop Project is to “keep doo wop music alive” — an objective which inspires the group to “doowop-ify” various types of songs. Here, the singers share the lead on a “doowop-ified” version of Wham’s holiday pop tune, “Last Christmas.”
The ensemble concludes Act I with a swinging version of The Del-Vikings’ “Come Go With Me” which segues into a bouncy rendition of Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” where Fischer sings the high tenor lead in contrast to Dwayne Carter’s low bass part before the number ends with enthusiastic audience cheers and applause.
Following a short intermission, The Doo Wop Project returns and opens Act II with The Del-Vikings’ “Whispering Bells” where doo-wop harmonies shine around the song’s “Bring my baby back to me” refrain.
After the performers take a moment to share what they are most thankful for this holiday season, the guys sing and dance to an R&B version of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” where Charl Brown infuses the arrangement with soul.
John Micheal Dias talks about auditioning 13 times for Jersey Boys before being chosen for the Chicago cast of the show, and, later, playing the role of Neil Sedaka in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical on Broadway. Joe Bergamini renders a marching beat on the snare drum behind Dias’ lead on a poignant soft-rock version of Johnny Maestro and The Brooklyn Bridge’s “Christmas Serenade.”
Charl Jones and Russell Fischer trade off singing lead on a soulful rendition of Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas,” where musical director Brent Frederick renders a piano solo on this R&B Christmas classic before taking a moment to introduce himself along with tonight’s backup band members.
Rich vocal harmonies ring out on a meter-shifting doo wop arrangement of Man of La Mancha’s “The Impossible Dream” which has audience members leaping to their feet for the group’s dramatic performance.
Dwayne Carter talks about loving doo wop music because it “brings people together” prior to singing lead on a doo wop rendition of The Marcels’ “Blue Moon” which features synchronized motions and Dwayne hamming it up for fans on the song’s low low low “Blue moon” coda.
The group concludes tonight’s performance with “All I Want for Christmas is You” where they dance and sway the night away on a free and easy interpretation of this Mariah Carey pop Christmas classic.
At the conclusion, the audience stands and cheers as the group exclaims, “We want to wish you all a happy holiday season and an even happier new year!”
For an encore, Dominic Nolfi and John Michael Dias trade off singing lead on an a cappella version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” prior to shifting into a glittering rendition of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons’ “December, 1963 (Oh What a Night).” Music lovers stand, clap, and dance along to the infectious arrangement before the group responds, “Thank you so much! We are The Doo Wop Project! Happy holidays and goodnight!”
To learn more about The Doo Wop Project please go to thedoowopproject.com. To learn more about upcoming concerts at Lakewood’s Strand Theater — including Almost Queen on January 10, The Stranger: A Tribute to Billy Joel on February 28, The Beat Goes On featuring Lisa McClowry as Cher on March 7, Songbird: The Singular Tribute to Barbra Streisand on April 11, and Bee Gees Gold on May 2 — please go to strand.org.
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