Irving Berlin’s
White Christmas
Written by David Ives, Paul Blake, Irving Berlin
Directed and Choreographed by Marc Robin
at Marriott Theatre, Lincolnshire (map)
thru Jan 1 | tickets: $41-$49 | more info
Check for half-price tickets
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Glorious dancing, singing illuminate Berlin’s endearing holiday classics
Marriott Theatre presents
Irving Berlin’s White Christmas
Review by Lawrence Bommer
Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, of course, salutes the similarly-named 1954 film that itself builds on the 1944 delight “Holiday Inn,” the film that in the middle of a war premiered the season’s most beloved non-carol. (Bing Crosby all but owned the number for the first decade.) No question, this holiday chestnut is unashamedly old-fashioned, aggressively nostalgic, and filled with postwar optimism. How can it not be when the Irving Berlin classic with which it begins (“Happy Holiday”) and the one with which it ends (“White Christmas”) are now essential ingredients for holiday cheer for most Americans?
Strictly by-the-numbers and comfortably contrived, the plot involves Wallace and Davis, a vaudeville team looking for a new act, who join forces with Betty and Judy Haynes, a sisters duo, to help the guys’ former general draw crowds to his Vermont ski lodge and barn. It’s 1954, ten years after they first partnered at a USO show. Wallace and Davis are now big stars but they haven’t forgotten where it all began and who made it possible.
So with Vermont’s winter season now threatened by a total lack of snowfall, they answer the call. It’s serendipity on cue. Of course, some clever confusion arises over whether the boys will end up in Florida or rehearse their new Broadway show in New England, then whether that inn will be sold to a corporation and, of course, whether each sister will dutifully fall for the vaudeville hoofer of her choice.
 
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It’s all an excuse for such Berlin gems as “Blue Skies” (performed with a bit too much jazzy syncopation for my taste), “I’m Happy,” “I Love a Piano,” “How Deep Is the Ocean?” and, of course, the inexhaustibly evocative title number. They’re a showcase for sly and sexy Rod Thomas and deftly dancing Andrew Lupp as the happy hoofers who fall hard or soft for Stephanie Binetti and Tammy Mader, the literal sister act who sing “Sisters.” They don’t have to be larger or louder than life: Human size fits the songs perfectly. The courtship scenes fare well here, if only because they’re so damn danceable: Robin lets the notes set the steps to equally seduce us through the ears and eyes.
A Chicago powerhouse over several decades, consummate pro Alene Robertson brings brassy moxie to “Let Me Sing and I’m Happy” (the credo of her career). She incarnates the hard-boiled, pizzazz-packed inn manager, combining Thelma Ritter, Bea Arthur and Alice Ghostley as she peps up every scene with deadpan wisecracks. Another local veteran, David Lively is lovably crusty and contagiously gruff as General Waverley (even though the plot goes haywire near the end as he returns to the Army, then reenters retirement for reasons that aren’t worth a second thought). Madison Gloria Olszewski (alternating with Kate Wild) is a perky moppet who was born to play Annie as well as the general’s Shirley Temple-cute granddaughter.
The eight-member ensemble resemble so many perpetual-motion machines, singing and dancing their own beautiful blizzard in a winter wonderland called Vermont. The lesser-known Berlin numbers may not be undeservedly neglected. (“Love and The Weather” adds nothing but, alas, “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” was stripped from the curtain bows because of a licensing restriction.) But the surefire hits from this totally American composer are absolutely irresistible and Marriott Theatre packages them to perfection.
Rating: ★★★★
Irving Berlin’s White Christmas continues through January 1st at Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire (map), with performances Wednesdays at 1pm and 8pm, Thursdays and Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 4:30pm and 8pm, and Sundays at 1pm and 5pm. Tickets are $41-$49, and are available by phone (847-634-0200) or online through Marriott’s website. (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at MarriottTheatre.com. (Running time: 2 hours 15-minutes, which includes one intermission)
All photos by Peter Coombs
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