It's logical to assume just about any Mariah Carey project will involve her singing, but "A Christmas Melody" involves much more for her.
The five-time Grammy winner not only is a star but also the director of Hallmark Channel's new Saturday (Dec. 19) movie about a youngster (played by Fina Strazza, alias Broadway's "Matilda") who's relocated from Manhattan to her divorced mother's (Lacey Chabert) Ohio hometown. They run into problems with the local PTA president (Carey) – Mom's high-school rival — but a music teacher (Brennan Elliott, of Hallmark's series "Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove") and a coffee-shop owner (Kathy Najimy) try to make things better for them.
"Dreamlover," "Fantasy" and "Always Be My Baby" hitmaker Carey tells Zap2it that directing is "something I've done behind the scenes, on music videos, for a long time. I've never really talked about it that much because I didn't want people to think I was doing it as a vanity thing. Really, it's just because I care about the outcome of a project.
"When it came to looking at 'A Christmas Melody,' it really was so I could direct it. I wasn't even going to act in it, which would have been easier … but this was a really good experience for me. I like my role in it, because she's kind of a funny stage mom who's not the nicest person on Earth, so Lacey and I have some fun scenes together."
And yes, there is plentiful music in "A Christmas Melody," but that doesn't necessarily mean Carey's is the film's dominant voice in that sense.
"We hear a lot of Christmas music in it," she notes, "and an original song that I wrote and recorded, but I changed the lyrics for Fina Strazza so that it would work for the movie. She re-recorded it in my studio in my house, and it's a good performance
. Her acting is the main thing, though. She kind of lights up the screen; she's really a special talent."
Carey actually will have her own Hallmark Channel musical showcase, also directed by her, right after the movie premieres. The new special "Mariah Carey's Merriest Christmas" features guest stars Kelsey Grammer, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and — as Santa Claus — Billy Gardell ("Mike & Molly").
After her appearance in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, another part of Carey's holiday season is her second year of concerts at New York's Beacon Theatre, which wrapped up just before "A Christmas Melody's" debut. Those shows are named for her seasonal standard "All I Want for Christmas Is You," and she says she enjoys its use in the popular 2003 movie comedy "Love Actually," as sung by young Olivia Olson.
"I think it's great! I think it was really cute. I don't think I ever knew at the time, when I said that they could use it, that it would become such a big movie … kind of a classic. As the co-writer of the song, it makes me happy to see people enjoy it during the holidays. It's a great feeling."
Among the filmmakers Carey — who recently got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — has worked with is Lee Daniels (in his drama "The Butler"). Though her immediate future entails a return to Las Vegas to finish up her concert residency at Caesars Palace, and evidently an appearance on FOX's "American Idol" by former judge Carey during its upcoming final season — there's a possibility she could turn up on Daniels' FOX series "Empire."
"I want to play a character, and not myself, if I go on it," she says, "so we have to talk about it. I think he wants me to be in an episode that he directs, so we'll see if it works out. And if not, the show will still be there, but I'd be excited to do it."
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