There are several ways to look at "Irving Berlin's White Christmas," which opened a two-week run at the Fox Theatre last night:
1–It's a heart-warming nostalgic look back to the days of World War II, when war was a good thing; it features Irving Berlin's songs, almost always a joy; it has good dancing; a cute child; it leaves a residue of good feeling; any four-year-old will understand it.
2–It's a poorly written, silly story that has no depth; it looks too reverently at the military; it features some of Irving Berlin's most forgettable songs (anything more forgettable is already forgotten); it has an obnoxious child, inserted only to add cuteness, succeeding rarely; it is populated by characters who have no depth; intellectually, it neither gives anything to nor asks anything from an audience; it lifts easily recognizable business from other musicals, like the "hat, no hat" number from "A Chorus Line," and Paul Blake, who wrote the book, even has someone mime the line; it does not have an ending, but kind of runs down and lets a dance number serve as a curtain call. A few moments later, it has another curtain call. Then it ends.
As almost anyone can tell by now, I didn't find "Irving Berlin's White Christmas" very entertaining. I like Irving Berlin's music too much to have it commandeered to support a 55-year-old book that has not aged very well.
Some of the songs are delightful, like "Sisters," "How Deep Is the Ocean?" "I Love a Piano" and "Let Yourself Go," but the Berlin charm was missing from "The Best Things Happen When You're Dancing," and "Falling Out of Love Can Be Fun."
Walter Bobbie's direction was passable, Randy Skinner's choreography a little better. Megan Sikora and Kerry O'Malley were fun as the Haynes sisters, and Sikora's dancing was splendid. Her duet and dance with David Elder to "I Love a Piano" was a high spot of the evening. Vera-Ellen and Rosemary Clooney were the Haynes sisters on film. Stephen Bogardus and David Elder were fine as Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, respectively, played by Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye on screen, with Kaye replacing an ill Donald O'Connor, who had replaced an ill Fred Astaire. Lorna Luft was fun as the woman who was running the inn where all this came down, and there also were delightful moments from Kilty Reidy and Richard Pruitt.
"Irving Berlin's White Christmas," at the Fox through Dec. 27
–Joe
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One response
Joe: Say it ain’t so! Yes it is sappy. But it’s Christmas! Do you not like “It’s a Wonderful Life” either?