RIDGEFIELD - Emmy and Golden Globe winning actress, singer, and producer Jane Lynch apparently does not shy away from throwing a big party.

When The Newtown Bee reached her at home on Black Friday, just over a week before she rolls into The Ridgefield Playhouse with her "A Swingin' Little Christmas!" tour, Lynch was just cleaning up after hosting an "intimate little gathering" on Thanksgiving.

"I'm three-quarters of the way through feverishly cleaning the kitchen," Lynch confessed, "We had 30 for Thanksgiving..."

But that is nothing compared to the extravaganza she is ready to throw for hundreds of her Connecticut fans.

For those who may be experiencing varying levels of nausea or depression because of the holiday season, Lynch vows her new tour will set toes tapping and help relieve some of that pre-holiday stress when she hits The Playhouse stage this Saturday, December 2, at 8 pm.

Her advance describes "A Swingin' Little Christmas!" tour as a "comically kitsch throwback to the old WWII USO canteen and 1960s Christmas specials of yore." Beside spotlighting Lynch's exquisite singing talents and comedic delivery, the show also features Kate Flannery, who is best known for her role as Meredith on The Office, and Tim Davis (former Glee vocal arranger) backed by The Tony Guerrero Quintet.

Lynch, a four-time an Emmy and Golden Globe winner - including two for her work hosting NBC's Hollywood Game Night and one for Glee - began touring as a singer and star of her own live concert tour, See Jane Sing with Flannery, Davis and The Guerrero Quintet. That project kind of organically led to the idea for a holiday album, A Swingin' Little Christmas, which is available from iTunes, Amazon and other outlets.

Of course, the ensemble could not resist taking that material out on the road to a growing number of appreciative audiences.

Lynch, Flannery, and Davis are not falling back on the same old familiar songs, either. The ensemble is showcasing a grab bag of original tunes including the comedic "Sentimental Christmas," and the more elegant "Winter's Never Cold (When You're Around)".

Those two titles have found their way onto a number of holiday season playlists, and are receiving some very positive notices from critics and fans alike. Lynch and company also developed their own clever spin on seasonal favorites including "We Three Kings" and an especially jaunty "Up on the Housetop," which will also be part of the Ridgefield set.

The multi faceted artist told The Bee that she has been very lucky in her career.

"My God, I've gotten to do everything I want," she said. "These two musical tours, including the holiday show you will see in Ridgefield December 2, have really put the icing on the cake for me. I didn't realize how much I missed live performing, and now I get to do it all the time."

Lynch said she would not refuse a chance to return to work in other live productions, either.

"I don't really have a bucket list, but I will tell you that I did a couple of months of Annie on Broadway a couple of years ago, and i wouldn't mind returning to that - I loved it," she said. "I sure would like to go back to Broadway, or some other kind of work on the stage."

Before she uttered her first snarky insult on Glee, Lynch was already a familiar face to television and movie audiences, turning up in many brief but memorable roles, along with making a lasting impression in Christopher Guest's trilogy of comedic ensemble projects, Best In Show, For Your Consideration, and A Mighty Wind, which required her to handle singing and learning to accompany herself on guitar.

"That same crowd of actors also did a film a few years back called Mascot, which you can see on Netflix right now," she said. "But I haven't heard anything from him lately. You know it's Chris' call, but when that call comes we all jump right up and do it."

She also took all of the deliciously edgy dialog of her Glee character Sue Sylvester and super-sized it in the streaming series Dropping the Soap. Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series.That parody of a foundering soap opera, which doles out its episodes in hilariously busy eight to ten-minute shorts, earned Lynch her latest Emmy for 

"There's a stealthy kind of repressed violence to that character," she recalled with a laugh. "That was my friend Paul Witten who created that. You'll be interested to know I'm heading over to his house for coffee in a little bit because we want to discuss a season two."

When asked where she draws inspiration for some of her more piercing characters, Lynch replied: "I don't really know, but that attitude certainly must live in me. I guess sometimes my behavior comes out in that way, a little stealthy and vicious, but I rarely lead with it."

Lynch is also passionate about her support of the nonprofit cause Direct Relief (directrelief.org).

"This is a charity that is run very well, but you don't hear enough about them," Lynch said. "They have zero overhead because of some select corporate sponsorships, so every penny you give goes straight to relief efforts in Puerto Rico, in Mexico, and Napa Valley - wherever there are problems - and they don't just parachute in and then leave. They stick around to make sure contributions are being used for doing greatest good."

Her touring partner Flannery became a familiar fixture after nine seasons as Meredith on NBC's The Office, before going on to appear in The New Girl, American Housewife, Another Period, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Her original cult comedy lounge act, The Lampshades, regularly plays comedy festivals and in and around Hollywood.

But she has found a permanent gig, enjoying her work on the holiday tour as well as Lynch's sidekick in her anti cabaret act, "See Jane Sing," which has played the Kennedy Center, Joe's Pub, and 30 cities across the country.

"Kate and I have known each other for decades, we met in Chicago and we reconnected here in LA, and we used to do this charity fundraiser for breast cancer research called 'What a Pair,' where duos of women would sing together," Lynch said. "So Kate came up with this crazy complicated rendition of 'Far From the Home I Love,' from Fiddler on the Roof, and we started performing it occasionally. So when I got called to do a cabaret in New York at 54 Below, I called on Kate, and Tim, and Tony, and we started doing those really tight harmony songs, and Tim came in and we're like the friggin Andrews Sisters."

Davis has been singing and touring for the past three years in "See Jane Sing." But his music producing and singing credits include all six seasons of Glee, ABC's Boy Band, the feature film Love Is Afoot, Lady Gaga's Super Bowl 2017 halftime show, Pentatonix Christmas, Barbra Streisand's 2017 concert tour, The People's Choice Awards, Josh Groban's Stages, the feature film Beauty and The Beast, and TV's The Americans and The Goldbergs.

The touring quintet featuring Tony Guerrero (trumpet and piano), Matt Johnson (drums), Mark Visher (woodwinds), Dave Siebels (keyboards) and David Miller (stand-up bass), have supported both the "See Jane Sing" and "A Swingin' Little Christmas" tours, as well as providing instrumentation on the A Swingin' Little Christmas! album.

"I originally thought a trio was all I needed," Lynch said. "But Tim Davis brought me to see Tony's quintet and they were amazing - they're like throwbacks to the late '50s and early '60s jazz players. They are amazing, funny, and nice people, so we signed them on to do our first cabaret show and we've been with them ever since.

"We also formed our own label called Kitchtone Records, and we recorded a single with Dick Van Dyke called 'We're Going Caroling,' which was fun - you can check out some of our silly videos at janelynchofficial.com," she added.

The album release landed a spot in the Billboard charts, and the single "Winter's Never Cold" - an original Tony Guerrero composition -  went to hit the number eight position on Billboard.

"Our album is at number 28 right now, which is kind of amazing for a holiday album, and the singles are doing really well, too," Lynch said. "Tony is just a genius. Besides writing and arranging the handful of original tunes on the album, he also rearranged the public domain Christmas favorites that we recorded as well."

For tickets to see Jane Lynch and "A Swingin' Little Christmas!" ($75), call the Ridgefield Playhouse box office at 203-438-5795, or visit . The Ridgefield Playhouse is a non-profit performing arts center located at 80 East Ridge, parallel to Main Street.ridgefieldplayhouse.org

After the Connecticut stop, Lynch then takes the show to a multi-night stand at New York's City Winery.

Enjoy a sample of Jane Lynch and her mirthful musical partners performing their new and popular holiday hit, "Sentimental Christmas"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AoYBeHNLpc

Actress Jane Lynch won a daytime Emmy for her work on the comedy short series Dropping the Soap. See the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-oUaGsjbHQ

[mappress mapid="1099"]