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Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyTheater: "White Christmas" Early
Present For Holidays
IRVING BERLIN'S WHITE CHRISTMAS *** out of
****
PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE
Almost any Christmas-themed property you can name is
being turned into a musical with an eye to touring it yearafter year. It's rather depressing to see Elf and A
Christmas Story get musicalized whether they need to
or not. But the breezy, confident musical Irving Berlin'sWhite Christmas has enough old school pizazz to chase
away any cynicism and let you enjoy this crowd-pleaser
on its own terms.
The show began in 2004 and has toured the country
(and even overseas) while stopping on Broadway twice. But this is my first time, which surely helps in
enjoying this trifle, based on the Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney film (itself spun off
from Holiday Inn , the original source of the Irving Berlin classic song).
It begins with a glimpse of soldiers in the trenches in 1944, where two guys are entertaining their palswith that tune, a nice way to remind people of the standard's original impact. (Soldiers overseas andtheir families back home could only dream of a white Christmas together because they were separated by
thousands of miles; this knowledge gives the tune a yearning, sad context modern listeners might
otherwise overlook.)
Those two guys quickly become Broadway stars, with Bob (James Clow) a romantic and Phil (Tony
EDITION: U.S.
November 24, 2011


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Yazbeck) the lady killer. Before you know it, they're looking for new talent, spot a sister act and darned if
each guy doesn't seem perfect for a sister, with Phil eyeing Judy (Meredith Patterson) and Bob clashingwith Betty (Jill Paice). The guys follow the gals to an inn in Vermont and -- what do ya' know? -- their
beloved General from the war owns the place, though not for long if the bills keep piling up.
Before you can say "hey kids, let's put on a show," they really are putting on a show (in the barn, no less)
and inviting all their old Army buddies to drop everything and come on by. Mild misunderstandings will
arise and be dismissed with a song and a dance before the happy finale on Christmas Eve. If you'rewondering whether snow will fall, you've never seen a Hollywood movie.
Paper Mill continues its run of Broadway quality shows with the sets and costumes and choreography and
especially cast more than up to snuff. It's easy to overlook the professionalism of the four leads, but they
smoothly make this fluff work nicely. Clow and Paice are the stars, with Paice shining in her big solo
number and Clow making decency affably charming (no simple task). Yazbeck (a charmer) and Pattersonhave even more fun, especially on their tap-crazy act two opener "I Love A Piano," where Pattersonreminds us what a presence she was on Broadway in the revival of 42nd Street.
Lorna Luft handles the larger than life comedy with aplomb as the inn's concierge and belts out "Let Me
Sing And I'm Happy" with convincing gusto. Perhaps the only surprise in the show is that she and the
General (a solid Edward James Hyland) don't make it official before the curtain falls. Jacob Ben Widmar
is first among equals in the strong chorus of singers and dancers, but everyone is solid.
The choreography gets stronger as the show goes on (especially the second act opener) and the costumes
amusingly silly (like the aggressive holiday sweaters in the finale). Director Marc Bruni knows the showinside and out, but doesn't let it sink into a rut, from an amusing train scene to smoothly engineered set
changes right up to the finale.
The only awkward fit among the songs is the act one finale "Blue Skies." Bob has just been angrily
dismissed by Betty and he doesn't know why but it obviously upsets him. So to follow that by breaking
into a song of pure joy (including a chorus of backup singers and dancers) makes no emotional sense in
the otherwise smooth book by David Ives and Paul Blake. He could start off singing the song sadly andthen segue into a full production as they rehearse the number, delivering it with gusto by the end though
we know deep down he's worried. Or he might blithely dismiss the fight because he's crazy about the gal
and certain he'll fix whatever is wrong, leading into a buoyant version. In either case, it would only take afew lines to set it up properly. As it is the tune makes no sense.
None of White Christmas is earth-shaking. It's just a pleasant diversion delivered with professionalism
by a solid cast happy to be working and singing great songs by Irving Berlin. You wouldn't want to revisit
it every year the way you do Miracle On 34th Street or It's A Wonderful Life, but it's a happy change of
pace from the umpteenth edition of A Christmas Carol and a reminder of when Hollywood turned outfluff like this with regularity. It's not so easy, as countless Broadway shows hoping "merely" to entertaincan attest. The show finishes with a sing-along on "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm," but we can go
to the original, Bing Crosby.
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Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also
available for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Note : Michael Giltz was provided with free tickets to this show with the understanding that he would
be writing a review.
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