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
Going, Going, Going, Going, Going, Going, Going, Going, Going...Gone!Charles Isherwood's downright
nostalgic piece in this morning's edition of
The New York Times serves as an excellent reminder that today's your last chance to see nine of the thirteen Broadway shows slated to close during January 2009.
Boeing-Boeing. Going. But a
45-week national tour is planned for take-off sometime this year.
Dividing The Estate. Going. But subtracting
Elizabeth Ashley from the cast, the ensemble will transfer to the
Hartford Stage in Connecticut come May.
Grease. Going. But the ongoing
North American tour with
Taylor Hicks as Teen Angel is about to play Chicago's Auditorium Theatre.
Hairspray. Going. But the Award-winning
London staging is going strong. Oh, and there's the sticky
non-Equity tour that's about to play such markets as Terre Haute (IN), Kalamazoo (MI) and Wabash (IN) for one nights only, but it does not share the Broadway credits (including direction, choreography or elaborate set designs) or talent.
Irving Berlin's White Christmas. Going. But producer
Kevin McCollum "
would love to bring the show back to Broadway" in the future, and the show will continue to live on during future holiday seasons throughout North America.
Liza's At The Palace...! Going. What?! You expected
more?! After two extensions??
Slava's Snowshow. Going.
13. Going. But there's "much interest in a
national and international tour," according to lead producer
Bob Boyett.
Young Frankenstein. Going. But
a tour is planned for this fall.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: 13, Boeing-Boeing, Broadway, Closings, Dividing The Estate, Grease, Hairspray, Liza's At The Palace, Slava's Snowshow, White Christmas, Young Frankenstein
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
Merry Christmas From TokyoGreetings from the incredibly vibrant, yet surprisingly
quiet city of Tokyo, where I'm spending this Christmas holiday catching a little theatre, but also getting acquainted with this magnificent city.
In seeing our show, it appeared we were the only westerners in the audience. I'll write more about the actual performance of the Japanese language version for this Broadway hit later, but I was struck by how incredibly polite the audience was. They hardly laughed or applauded during the performance (and you could hear a pin drop whenever the stage was quiet). But they clearly loved the show considering the six curtain calls.
After the fourth call, the orchestra started to play familiar strains. But it wasn't anything from the show itself. Instead, they played "White Christmas" with orchestrations lifted right from the show's familiar score. The two lead actors began singing -- in English -- and were soon joined by the entire cast. It made for a very moving experience. It was beautiful.
The rest of my Christmas Eve (it is Christmas Day here thanks to the 14 hour time difference) navigating the complex subway system before walking around (and walking and walking and walking). After toasting Chrismas with a glass of champagne in the
bar of the city's renowned
Imperial Hotel -- the Old Imperial Bar is the only remaining room with
Frank Lloyd Wright's original design -- we took in the 50 year old
Tokyo Tower (pictured), which purposely resembles Paris'
Eiffel Tower and affords some of the best views of this immense city. And strangely enough, with one Christmas hymn after another being piped out of the tower's sound system, it was easy to remember which holiday was upon us.
Please accept my personal best wishes for a very Merry Christmas. Here's wishing you and yours nothing but peace and love.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Christmas, Frank Lloyd Wright, Japan, Special Messages, Tokyo, Travels, White Christmas
Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (The SOB Review) – Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, Main Hall, St. Paul, MN
**1/2 (out of ****)
This Holiday season, the relatively “new” stage version of
Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, based on the 1954 film of the same name, is being produced in both Detroit and St. Paul.
On the plus side, this lavishly produced spectacle that first premiered in San Francisco two years ago contains mesmerizing dancing, elaborate costumes and set design and terrific singing of timelessly sentimental music from that great maestro
Irving Berlin. And yes, there’s also a glorious snowstorm that blows through the theatre.
But in the St. Paul production, I couldn’t help but postulate that director
Walter Bobbie may have subversively intended a wink and a nod to “Deck The Halls” instead. After all, that Holidays standard with its famous line about donning that
fabulous apparel seems much more apropos for
White Christmas’ two male leads
Stephen Bogardus and
Jeffry Denman as the song and dance
partners, with the emphasis apparently placed on the term “partners.”
Sure Bogardus at least resembles
Bing Crosby as Bob Wallace, and Denman has some of those loose-limbed characteristics of
Danny Kaye as Phil Davis. Both have fine voices. Yet there were significantly more sparks between their characters, including during the ultra-campy “Sisters” duet, than there are with the engaging female leads
Kerry O’Malley (Betty Haynes) and Kristen Beth Williams (Judy Haynes).
The fact is that despite their terrific singing and hoofing, neither actor is particularly believable in their romantic heter-roles; they would have been far better suited for each other. Given that this was a show set in 1954, perhaps Bobbie merely wants us to subliminally hypothesize that this just exemplifies the way it was for closeted men mid-century 1900s, including those who fought for their country.
O’Malley, on the other hand, was absolutely exquisite as Bogardus’ would-be flame. With just the right mix of aloofness and charm, along with a mighty set of powerful lungs -- especially on the near-showstopping “How Deep Is The Ocean” -- O’Malley singularly delivers the show’s best performance.
David Ogden Stiers provides an appropriate degree of gravitas as his struggling ex-general alongside the delightful
Ruth Williamson as his innkeeper Martha Watson. And hardly surprising is that eight year old
Melody Hollis practically steals the show as perky little Susan Waverly, granddaughter of the former general.
Randy Skinner’s brilliant choreography, including an abundance of breathtaking tap numbers, provides
White Christmas with its most consistently captivating moments. And of course, it’s hard to torpedo a show that celebrates the music of one of the 20th Century’s most enduring and endearing composers, Irving Berlin.
Each song and dance number was a welcome diversion to the often inert book by
David Ives and Paul Blake (the show clocks in at nearly two and a half slow hours); I found myself repeatedly looking at my watch throughout the performance speculating on when it would end.
Will audiences be entertained? Mostly. But while I have never before seen the film version of “
White Christmas,” I couldn’t help but wonder if I would have enjoyed myself more if I had simply purchased the DVD instead.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for Detroit tickets.Click here for St. Paul tickets.Labels: Film, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Musical, The SOB Review, White Christmas
