Great White Christmas Way - ReduxTomorrow, the return
Marquis Theatre engagement for
Irving Berlin's White Christmas begins previews after an absence of only eleven and a half months.
Last year's Great White Way mounting grossed over $9.1 million and played to an enviably large, nearly sold-out audience of over 92,000. With an average ticket price topping $100, it's not too difficult to understand why its producers are bringing it back in hopes of a truly green Christmas.
White Christmas is once again directed by
Walter Bobbie and features the brilliant, Tony-nominated choreography by
Randy Skinner. But this recreation of the
classic 1954 film has
Irving Berlin's beloved score as its main attraction.
While last year's
critical response was tepid at best, I can't help but think part of that had to do with some of the cast, particularly its male leads who were identical to those whom I
saw when the show toured St. Paul in 2006.
What a difference a year makes.
James Clow takes over the role of Bob Wallace from
Stephen Bogardus,
Tony Yazbeck assumes the role of Phil Davis from
Jeffry Denman,
Melissa Errico takes on Betty Haynes from
Kerry O'Malley and
Mara Davi will portray Judy Haynes, first played by
Meredith Patterson. It's Yazbeck's casting that has me thinking this show could actually improve over last year.
Will audiences make like a tree and flock to this
White Christmas once again? Certainly, that's what its producers are dreaming of to make their holiday season merry and bright.
The limited holiday season run of
White Christmas opens November 22 and is scheduled to close January 3, 2010.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
This story was corrected on November 13, 2009.Labels: Broadway, Irving Berlin, Musical, Revival, Walter Bobbie, White Christmas
White Christmas: Were Reviews Merry And Bright?Director
Walter Bobbie and choreographer
Randy Skinner may have been dreaming of
Irving Berlin's White Christmas for countless years, but now that the production is finally on Broadway, did it fulfill the critics' wildest dreams? Well, not quite.
The limited run holiday tuner opened last evening at the Great White Way's
Marquis Theatre. Based on the
classic 1954 film, the musical features
Irving Berlin's timeless score.
White Christmas stars
Stephen Bogardus,
Jeffry Denman,
Kerry O'Malley,
Meredith Patterson and
Melody Hollis.
Saying the show "makes for a bright evening,"
John Simon of Bloomberg appears to be alone among critics in getting caught up, at least a little, in the spirit of the season: "A problem with
Irving Berlin’s White Christmas is that it cannot quite make up its mind whether to cheekily parody the mildly idiotic movie, or sweetly swoon over its antique innocence.... You might think that great songs can salvage anything, but many of the songs here are lesser Berlin. Still, there are those marvelously evocative
Louizos sets and dazzlingly outrageous
Robbins costumes for us to feast on. And Skinner’s clever dances, which, with far more limited personnel, still manage to lustily evoke the grandeur of
Busby Berkeley and glory of Hermes Pan."
Complaining that "the orchestra sounds tinny and the production cries out for a smaller theater or a bigger chorus,"
Newsday's
Linda Winer provides the first of many a pan: "
White Christmas is a reasonable facsimile of what it's meant to be -- a manipulation of the sentimental holiday marketplace that does not disturb the seasonal equilibrium with a bubble of original thought.... [T]his is a straightforward, old-fashioned book-musical about a famous song-and-dance duo that falls for a couple of song-and-dance sisters while doing a good deed fora retired Army general whose Vermont inn is deep in debt. At Christmas."
Proclaiming that the show should "have an audience advisory -- for diabetics,"
USA Today's
Elysa Gardner gives two and a half out of four stars: "Adapting the screenplay,
David Ives and
Paul Blake have left no sentimental stone unturned.... What this stage version does not have, obviously, is the cast that made the original 'White Christmas' an enduring favorite. It's unfair to compare any singing actor to
Bing Crosby, but in this case, it's impossible not to. Stephen Bogardus brings undeniable grace and charm to the role of Bob Wallace, but he can't overcome the thinness of the libretto and the slickness of Walter Bobbie's direction."
Calling it "efficient but bland,"
The New York Times's
Charles Isherwood was not finding much cheer: "[Y]ou’d have to be in a desperately, even pathologically nostalgic mood -- trawling the Internet in the wee hours for VHS copies of
Lawrence Welk holiday specials, say -- to derive much joy from the stage retread of 'White Christmas,' a synthetically cozy trip down memory lane.... But the leading roles are really just place holders for star personalities, and none of the principals brings much in the way of wattage to their assignments. The romantic heat generated by both couples put together wouldn’t melt a snowflake."
Labeling the production as "a little creaky,"
Joe Dziemianowicz of New York's
Daily News awards three out of five stars in his surprisingly thin review: "But as a holiday entertainment, it's light and bright and boasts some great production numbers."
Concluding that the musical "is artificial enough to bring out the inner Scrooge in anyone,"
New York Post's
Frank Scheck ebeneezers with his two-star review: "[I]t's more than a little disappointing that the Broadway production of
Irving Berlin's White Christmas is so lacking in genuine Yuletide spirit.... [T]he book (by David Ives and Paul Blake) is lumbering and unamusing, and while the four stars -- Stephen Bogardus, Jeffry Denman, Kerry O'Malley and Meredith Patterson -- ably fulfill their singing and dancing requirements, they lack the outsize personalities necessary to make us care about their cardboard characters."
Charging that the show "coasts along on the strength of its melodious numbers and sparkling visuals,"
Variety's
David Rooney also offers a bah-humbug: "[T]his somewhat mechanical show feels like a road production staffed with mostly second-tier talent.... [T]he show makes little effort to fortify the movie's flimsy plot or disguise the contrived misunderstanding that fuels its central conflict.... Director Walter Bobbie's biggest hurdle is getting through the mummified book scenes, with their corny jokes. Aiding him, however, is that with 22 songs stuffed into two hours and change, it's never a long wait until the orchestra strikes up again, and the drippy dialogue gives way to polished -- if not quite dazzling -- vocals."
Will all this matter when New Yorkers and tourists alike are desperately seeking any kind of cheer, holiday or otherwise, this season? Perhaps not. With box office capacity in the mid 80 percentile, it may be some of the only green on Broadway this December.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Critics' Capsule, Film, Irving Berlin, Jeffry Denman, Kerry O'Malley, Melody Hollis, Meredith Patterson, Musical, Randy Skinner, Stephen Bogardus, Walter Bobbie, White Christmas
Dreaming Of A (Great) White (Way Opening For) ChristmasAfter knocking around the country over the past four holiday seasons,
Irving Berlin's White Christmas opens on the aptly named Great White Way at the
Marquis Theatre.
Directed by
Walter Bobbie and brilliantly choreographed by
Randy Skinner, this recreation of the
classic 1954 film has as its star the legendary score by
Irving Berlin. (Never mind that the actual tune, "White Christmas" -- the all-time, best-selling single through 1997 -- was originally heard in the earlier, similarly themed
Bing Crosby flick "
Holiday Inn" from 1942.)
The production features
Stephen Bogardus as Bob Wallace and
Jeffry Denman as Phil Davis, along with
Kerry O'Malley and
Meredith Patterson as sisters Betty and Judy Haynes, and the adorably precocious
Melody Hollis as Susan Waverly. When
I saw the touring production two years ago in St. Paul, all but Patterson were in the cast.
And speaking of my experience, I can't help but wonder if critics will be dreaming of the same red marks
I lodged at the time. Find out tomorrow as I provide my critics' capsule.
The limited run of
Irving Berlin's White Christmas is scheduled through January 4, 2009.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Film, Irving Berlin, Jeffry Denman, Kerry O'Malley, Melody Hollis, Meredith Patterson, Musical, Opening Night, Randy Skinner, Stephen Bogardus, Walter Bobbie, White Christmas
Broadway Preview: White ChristmasAccording to
Variety, dreams of a
White Christmas for Broadway will be realized as
Irving Berlin's White Christmas glistens the Great White Way's Marquis Theatre starting this November.
The film-cum-stage musical has already played a host of venues throughout the United States over the past several years. Just two years ago,
I caught the
Walter Bobbie-helmed production in Saint Paul, Minnesota. While I found
Randy Skinner’s brilliant choreography enthralling, I was less impressed by the rather inert book by
David Ives and Paul Blake.
Still, now that the show has essentially enjoyed an extended out of town tryout over the past four holiday seasons -- and it's likely that the show's top actors will return for the Rialto engagement -- it's quite possible that the tuner's been sufficiently tweaked in time for its Broadway bow.
Expect
Irving Berlin's White Christmas to turn into a blizzard of ticket sales.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (The SOB Review) (December 6, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Irving Berlin, Musical, Touring Production, White Christmas
Kitty Carlisle Hart - RIPSadly, I'm sorry to report that the lovely, legendary
Kitty Carlisle Hart passed away yesterday. Mrs. Hart had been ill with pneumonia.
With her passing, the theatre world has lost a true treasure and one of its last remaining links to the Golden Age of Broadway. Last summer,
I provided the following brief overview of her amazingly vital career:
Carlisle Hart may best be remembered by the vast majority of Americans for her expert quizzing of contestants on television's various versions of "To Tell the Truth." But the 95 year old entertainer is still regaling audiences with her tales of her marriage to renowned playwright Moss Hart of You Can't Take It With You and Once In A Lifetime fame, as well as
her accounts of long-since departed friends like Irving Berlin and George Gershwin.
A native of New Orleans, Kitty Carlisle Hart began her Broadway career an astonishing 73 years ago this fall in Champagne, Sec (based on the operetta Die Fledermaus) and went on to perform in six more Great White Way productions through 1983's On Your Toes.
Additionally, Carlisle Hart's movie career spans 59 years beginning with 1934's "Murder At The Vanities," and includes such notable films as "A Night At The Opera" (1935) with the Marx Brothers, Woody Allen's "Radio Days" (1987) and "Six Degrees of Separation" (1993).
A 1991 recipient of the National Endowment of the Arts' American National Medal of the Arts, Carlisle Hart is perhaps one of our last surviving treasures from Broadway's Golden Age. It's no wonder her acclaimed show has become so iconic for anyone who wants a moment to bask in the glory of a bygone era.
Not long after posting that story, I journeyed to Los Angeles to take in her sold-out one-woman show,
An American Icon: Kitty Carlisle Hart. I was thrilled to be able to sit in the presence of the woman, who for most of the 20th Century, was considered the doyenne of Broadway society. Even at 96 years of age -- a milestone she observed last September 3 -- Mrs. Hart remained sharp as a tack, graceful as American theatrical royalty and the epitome of class and sophistication. There she stood, poised on the stage of North Hollywood’s El Portal Theatre for more than one hour, regaling the enthusiastic audience with an erudite cross-section of her illustrious, captivating life.
As I said then, Kitty Carlisle Hart's descriptions of her personal relationships with the legends who made Broadway such a powerful medium were testament to the amazing life she herself had led. I was honored to have the opportunity to bask in her continued glow and even meet her in person (she posed for a picture with me right after I took the one above) -- it was not only
one of the best evenings I spent last year, but it made me all the richer for the unforgettable experience.
Appropriately, the Great White Way will honor her this evening by dimming the lights of its theatres for one minute at 8 pm.
Rest in peace, Kitty Carlisle Hart. You will be missed tremendously.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #5: Kitty Carlisle Hart (December 28, 2006)
Walking With Music: Kitty Carlisle Hart to Perform at Feinstein's (September 7, 2006)
An American Icon: Kitty Carlisle Hart (The SOB Review) - El Portal Theatre, North Hollywood, CA (August 7, 2006)
Will It Play in Peoria? How About Iowa? (July 24, 2006)
American Theatre Icon Kitty Carlisle Hart to Perform in North Hollywood (June 26, 2006)
Labels: George Gershwin, In Memoriam, Irving Berlin, Kitty Carlisle Hart, Moss Hart, SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06
Easter Parade (The SOB Review) - Main Stage, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, Chanhassen, MN
**1/2 (out of ****)
On paper, it at least seems like an intriguing idea.
One year to the day after The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization announced they'd be co-developing
Easter Parade with Minnesota's
Chanhassen Dinner Theatres -- the same theatres where
Laura Osnes portrayed Sandy in its version of
Grease prior to being vaulted to national stardom via "
Grease: You're The One That I Want" -- I took in the world premiere production of
Easter Parade, which they've dubbed, "The Happiest Musical Ever Made."
Just like a big old fashioned Easter egg, this musical rolls along with a terrific color-coated sheen. For the most part, this surprisingly hard-boiled show goes
over easy. But scratch beneath that appealing veneer and you'll find more than a few cracks, including the somewhat scrambled book by
Tom Briggs (who previously took
State Fair to the Broadway stage), particularly where the happy ending is dramatically altered from the silver screen version.
Set in 1910 and 1911, this pygmalion-like story begins with vaudeville dance partners Don Hewes (a dashing and debonair
Michael Gruber) and Nadine Hale (a strong, forceful
Michelle Barber) splitting up their act so Hale can join the Broadway cast of a show called, "Way Down South," which in this version
really goes way down south, far beyond the Rio Grande and all the way to Rio in its outlandish, yet riveting retelling of the dance number, "Shaking The Blues Away."
Depressed, Hewes nurses his wounds with a trip to a nearby dancehall and wagers with his best buddy Johnny Moore (a terrific, self-effacing Keith Rice) that he can turn any of the dancers into his next partner. Out stumbles a bumbling Hannah Brown (gifted musical comedy actress
Ann Michels, who possesses a lovely singing voice), who ultimately accepts Don's entreaties.
Predictably, Don sets out to make Nadine jealous by initially trying to recast Hannah in his former partner's image. Both Hannah and Don realize independently that it's just not working and that Hannah just needs to be herself (ironically, Michels really just needs to be herself instead of continually trying to mimic the speaking voice of Judy Garland). Their epiphany gives way to a song and dance act allowing Hannah to primarily sing while Don concentrates on the dancing. One of the show's best numbers, "When The Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves For Alabam," hints at the potential that this Easter Parade could have been. From there, we get hints that love is in bloom between Don and Hannah.
Where Briggs' book should have been clarified, along with more precise direction from
Michael Brindisi, is in the second act. Yes, there are many terrific production numbers, particularly "Steppin' Out With My Baby" featuring Don and the chorus, as well as a lovely "Mr. Monotony" sung as a duet by Nadine and Hannah (both of which underscore the timeless genius of Irving Berlin), but there's no clarity around why Don would be performing without Hannah, or why Hannah would be singing with Nadine. As I indicated earlier, it's quite scrambled.
But nowhere does this production end up with egg on its face more than in the surprise ending. I won't give it away here, but let's just say if you loved the movie and you're a purist, you'll probably be very disappointed by what happens to the show's lovebirds. Yes, new books can and should take liberties with source material to move the story along and clarify points, but Briggs has, in my opinion, tinkered a bit too much. And unfortunately, I found the "Easter Parade" finale number a few steps short of rousing.
Make no mistake, the cast is exceptional, and there's plenty of romantic chemistry among the lead actors. Indeed, there's also a sweet sidebar love story between Nadine's dresser Essie (a wonderfully sassy Angela Timberman) and Mr. Johnson (comic deadpan Jay Albright, Timberman's real-life husband).
But while Tamara Kangas' choreography has touches of brilliance, I found myself missing the movie's dazzling dance moves from Fred Astaire and
Ann Miller (I couldn't help but wonder what a
Noah Racey and
Charlotte d'Amboise would do in the Don and Nadine roles if given the chance). That, coupled with the misfires in the book, left me understanding why this occasionally entertaining parade ultimately passed me by.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories: Labels: Easter Parade, Film, Irving Berlin, Musical, The SOB Review
