Since November, The Park Theatre & Event Center, located on 848 Park Ave. in Cranston, has been celebrating 100 years of business. There have been numerous events gracing the stage, including live concerts, stand-up comedy and other productions. For the music side of things, a variety of performances have taken place so far this month to ring in the holiday season. An upcoming example of this is the Puerto Rican singer-songwriter José Feliciano, who will be playing a wide-range of material at the theatre on December 20 at 8 p.m. People have probably heard his Christmas hit “Feliz Navidad” over the past few weeks either on the radio or while perusing through the aisles of department stores, so whoever attends should expect to hear that tune being performed in person along with Feliciano’s other repertoire.

We had a talk about the creation of his hit song, exploring various styles of music, having a bilingual approach and what he loves most about the Christmas season.

Rob Duguay: You’ve been known to explore various styles of music with your material, which include Latin, blues, jazz, soul and rock. Do you credit this wide-ranging approach to the music you were exposed to while growing up in the cultural melting pot of New York City during the ‘50s and ‘60s?

José Feliciano: To a great extent, I do believe that’s true. My experiences as a youngster in Puerto Rico were later enhanced by so many other cultures, people who embraced me and my family, while living in New York. Good people, all so willing to share their food and their music with us. We feasted in that way.

RD: It’s really cool that you grew up in that environment. Your most well-known song is the Christmas tune “Feliz Navidad”, which you wrote in a studio in Los Angeles while feeling homesick and missing your family in New York City. The song gets nonstop radioplay all over the world during this time of year, so what are your thoughts on its lasting impact on the holiday season?

JF: Well actually, I wrote it in our home in Orange County while my producer and I were assembling the song list for a Christmas LP for RCA [Records]. Rick Jarrard had recommended that I write “a new song” for the album but I immediately felt it to be impossible to try to measure up to the works of Irving Berlin or Brenda Lee. Rick insisted I give it a try so I noodled around a bit with my guitar, thinking about our Christmases in Puerto Rico and later in New York City. You know, each have their own unique traditions and I missed that as an adult in California. I spontaneously came up with a lyric, but I told Rick it was too simple.

He disagreed with me and he was so right, we always laughed about that.

RD: That’s a really cool story. What would you say is your favorite aspect of Christmas, is it the exchanging of gifts, spending time with family and loved ones, eating delicious food or is it something else?

JF: It’s all that, sure, but it’s definitely the birth of Jesus that takes center stage in our house from Christmas through King’s Day.

RD: You’ve released over 50 albums in your career in both the English and Spanish language, so do you feel that this bilingual approach is your way of honoring your cultural heritage or is it something else?

JF: It’s really just who I am as an artist but also, really, as a person. I’m a Puerto Rican American who’s been blessed to travel around the world sharing my music along the way so it’s all become part of who I am.

RD: It’s been a few years since you released your last full-length album “Behind This Guitar” back in 2020, so can we expect a new album from you at some point next year?

JF: We’ll have to wait and see!