Irving Berlin's White Christmas the Musical

On December 10, 2006, my mom and my sister and I went to see Irving Berlin's White Christmas at the Fox Theatre in Detroit. I had no idea what to expect since I have never seen the movie it is based on, but I was definitely in the mood for some Christmas spirit. White Christmas definitely gave me some more of that spirit and afterward I could hardly wait to share the holiday with my family. Next Christmas may be far away but I am definitely hoping it will be white.

The Plot!
The year is 1944 at the start. A pair of army men are entertaining their troop on Christmas Eve. The general steps in to tell them he is leaving them. He gives a nice speech to them and ends by saying "who knows where will be in 1954".

Next scene, it's 1954! We see those two army men from before, Bob and Phil, have made it big and are performing on Ed Sullivan. Phil is quite the ladies man, but Bob is pretty cynical about love. Cut to another part of the city where Betty and Judy Haynes are preparing to perform their sister act. Judy is young and peppy, but Betty is also pretty cynical... just like Bob. Phil and Bob meet the girls after their show, and Phil and Judy work out a plan so that the four of them will all end up in Vermont.

This is where the real story starts. In Vermont, Phil and Bob see their old General is running the inn they are supposed to be performing at, but unfortunately the business isn't doing to well. So that's where I'll leave you. Bob and Betty both don't trust love, General Henry is having a bad holiday season, and Phil and Judy may have some troubles of their own. Will they all end up having a very Merry Christmas???

The Cast!
The names listed are who the cast was when the show was in Detroit, but probably won't be the same cast if you see the show elsewhere. However, you can read this section to know more about the various characters in the musical. As for these actors, their voices were all amazing and I didn't dislike any of them. They all had their own great songs and every single one sang without any problems!

Bob Wallace (played by Graham Rowat) is a great singer and performer, but doesn't seem to believe in love at all. He thinks it's as unpredictable as the weather and basically not worth the trouble. He always assumes everyone around him is trying to play some angle, and when it comes to his buddy Phil he's usually right. Can Bob let go of this cynicism and perhaps even learn to love?

Phil Davis (played by Mark Ledbetter) had quite the opposite issue. He found love everywhere he went and had girls falling all over him in seconds. However, it seems like it might be hard for him to settle for just one girl. Phil is concentrating on trying to teach Bob about Love, but maybe he needs to learn something himself.

Betty Haynes (played by Kate Baldwin) was the older sister who also had a great voice, however as much as she could sing she still couldn't love. As you can guess, her personality was just like Bob's. Betty needs to learn to relax if she wants to have a Merry Christmas, but she may need some help.

Judy Haynes (played by Shannon O'Bryan) was the fun loving performer. Her character meshed well with the character of Phil and together they brought fun and entertainment to the stage.

Every dancer and actor and singer was amazing in this! It was a great cast.

The Dancing!
The numbers were mostly Tap Dancing which was great for me because that's what I love the most. I think it's the most difficult type of dancing because if you miss one step, everyone can hear it. In any other type you can "fake it" when you mess up, but in tap, you gotta be good. This cast was VERY good at tap. There's one very fun number involving a piano and Phil and Judy do a great number together. If you have ever heard of people editing in "tap noises" and not wearing tap shoes, you don't have to worry about that here. We were close enough to see the taps and we could actually hear the actors walking, I know they had real taps on and that's awesome. I've seen shows where people faked it before, and it's just not quite the same.

The Sets!
There was an amazing amount of set changes and all were very gorgeous and realistic designs. We have the Ed Sullivan show, all the actors Dressing rooms, a Train, the Inn Lobby, the Inn Rooms, the Inn Switchboard, the Barn, a Hotel, I could go on but I won't. Basically, I've never seen so many set changes in a musical, and they happened so fast! The lights went out, came on and boom... new set. I've seen other musicals where they just kind of relocated things on stage to make the next scene, but this musical is the tops because it actually had a brand new set for each location, and even for the smaller locations within the locations! The closest I've ever seen to this is "Titanic" which had lots of sets that moved and even tilted. White Christmas didn't have any slanted sets, but they were huge and took the whole stage, and had similar "cut-out" sets like the Titanic did.

The Costumes!
The costumes were also something to write home about. The frilly skirts that spin when you do, and the 50s hair definitely put you into the time period the movie was about. It just had that overall old-time feel. When it was closer to Christmas in the storyline, the holiday outfits were also fun and got you in the mood for Christmas to come.

The Snow!
Near the end, they are showing some snow which is obviously just light moving around on the stage... then the lights go off and when they show the stage again, we see there is actual "snow" falling on the stage.... then soon I see... there is snow falling on me! They made it snow in the whole theater. And not just for a few seconds but for a long long time! This was soooo cool, especially since it hadn't really snowed in Detroit yet and I always love snow at Christmas time. Talk about putting you in the holiday spirit, now I had my Christmas songs, my Christmas tree, and Snow! After this, I was definitely ready for Christmas even if I wasn't before.

The Audience!
I wouldn't take anyone under 10 to this, but it's great for adults! There just wasn't a lot of stuff to keep the young ones entertained, and there are some slow parts. I saw many adults from teen to retired and they all seemed to really enjoy it. It may even be more fun for the older people since they can actually remember when Christmas used to be like the musical suggests.

The End!
This was a touching story with a few heart-warming laughs, and an overall Christmas feel. I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did, but it ended up being well worth my sisters money. I wouldn't hesitate to see it again in another few years! If you want a Holiday lift, then check out White Christmas this year! Check out their website (http://www.whitechristmasthemusical.com/) for alerts of when they will be near you. Enjoy!!