By Jeffrey

November 8, 2007 2:24 PM | Link to this

Well, I guess I am glad I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like the show…

By I Wonder

November 8, 2007 2:36 PM | Link to this

I wonder how long it will take before White Christmas is is called racist due to it’s name?

By Rusty

November 8, 2007 4:29 PM | Link to this

Man I wish I hadn’t just read this, cause I bought four tickets to this Sundays show. Man.

By Sally

November 8, 2007 5:23 PM | Link to this

I saw White Christmas Wednesday night and I loved it!!! I love the original movie and while this wasn’t exact, I loved the added musical numbers. I don’t think very many people who left the Fox Wednesday night were disappointed. It was a delightful 3 hours—and it just put us in a good mood afterwards!

By TA

November 8, 2007 6:03 PM | Link to this

Was there Wednesday as well, and although I agree with the distraction of the clanging bell, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Even though it has no “name” stars, the singing talent is exceptional, and I attend shows at the Fox regularly. I thought it money well spent.

By Cheryl

November 8, 2007 7:06 PM | Link to this

The show is amazing. You are wrong. Go see it for yourselves, the dancing is flawless and the singing exceptional as well. Don’t listen to this review, it is one sided and honestly, disgusting.

By Joe

November 8, 2007 8:00 PM | Link to this

I could not agree more with Mr.Brock’s review…the show is badly acted,badly written and one hour longer than the movie itself.Disney brought both Beauty & The Beast and Lion King to the stage and made them even better then their movie source.White Christmas is a classic movie and doesn’t need bells,buzzers and more whistles to make it better. I had been looking forward to this production coming to Atlanta since it only plays selected cities…now I know why.This show was so bad I left at intermission….I had my 16 year old daughter with me and we both agreed it was time to go home and put the movie in the DVD player to catch the “second act”.

By Jim

November 8, 2007 10:09 PM | Link to this

I saw Tuesday night’s show and loved it. While I didn’t really understand the filming angle of it, I didn’t let it get in the way of my enjoying the incredible singing and dancing. The bells and whistles actually cued me to pay attention that something was going to start or end — they didn’t bother me at all. Maybe if I had ever seen the film version I’d think differently. In any case, I had a great time and left in a terrific mood. I also think the character who played Judy was sublime. Don’t have second thoughts about attending — go and see for yourself.

By larry

November 9, 2007 7:38 AM | Link to this

Oveall, I liked the show. I thought all the women were excellent particularly Kristen Beth Williams in the “Vera Ellen” role. I do agree that the storyline was obtuse and not presented well. I thought the men were only adequate; except the the man who played General Waverly - he was bad. It had a couple of great production numbers; but, it lacked any of the emotional impact of its celluloid predecessor.

By Ilene

November 9, 2007 8:16 AM | Link to this

I saw the show last night (Thursday). An introduction was made by Theatre of the Stars saying that 27,000 tickets had been sold for this production. that’s almost a complete sell-out for the entire run.

I have mixed feelings about the show. I thought the performances were actually very good, as were the production numbers. Full-blown production numbers they were.

I do agree though that the filming was sort of weird. I think the production would’ve worked better as a straight show. I think that the filming aspect lent itself to all of those set changes, and believe me, I have NEVER seen so many sets in a live production before — wow! The filming bell was annoying — and loud since I was in the second row.

Overall, I’m glad I went (esp. for the surprise at the end). I love Irving Berlin’s music and you seldom get to hear it live anymore. I knew almost all of the songs word for word.

I also loved the girl who played Susan. She was fun, adorable, and had a good voice. Definitely a plus to this production.

By EP

November 9, 2007 8:19 AM | Link to this

Does anyone really expect Wendelle, who’s required to watch musicals, to like them? I take her comments with a grain of salt. I’m going on Saturday night with 9 out of town guests and we all fully expect to enjoy ourselves.

By John Prophitt

November 9, 2007 8:50 AM | Link to this

We saw this last night (Thursday) and it was great.. My family and I had a great time and we were greatly entertained. I didn’t want it to end. Everything can be improved in life, included reviews.. this review needs to be ignored.

By phil

November 9, 2007 9:07 AM | Link to this

I went to see White Christmas last night (Thursday) and thought the show was just “okay”. Having lived on Broadway for years, it wasn’t the quality I expected. The story line was chaotic to say the least and the characters didn’t win me over. However, Act Two is much better than Act I so don’t leave at intermission!! There was a couple of great dance sequences. The surprise at the end is great. I couldn’t sleep!!!

By Sherrybaby

November 9, 2007 12:10 PM | Link to this

I go to the theater for enjoyment and I enjoyed it. Not everyone has to be a critic-lighten up, it snowed in the Fox.

By Sherrybaby

November 9, 2007 12:10 PM | Link to this

I go to the theater for enjoyment and I enjoyed it. Not everyone has to be a critic-lighten up, it snowed in the Fox.

By NoDogInHunt

November 9, 2007 12:34 PM | Link to this

Sherrybaby:

Thanks for RUINING the surprise at the end of the show for those going to see it….I am sure they appreciate that.

What a moron.

By Ben

November 9, 2007 9:09 PM | Link to this

I saw (and loved) the Thursday evening production. No, it is not the movie—and that is good. I was wonderfully entertained by the unique production. The male lead was great (the Crosby role). No Bing, but, heck, who is? The the women were extraordinary. The granddaughter has a strong, mature voice—we will know her name in 10 years. The telephone operator/hotel conceriege is wonderful—I though of Ethel Merman as she performed (as did an earlier writer). The charming red-head that played the Clooney role had a better voice than the icon from the movie, looked better and acted better—she was ideal and I hope to see her again! Great production—thanks, Chris (Manos) for entertaining us well.

By This is not a Drill (I mean thrill)

November 10, 2007 12:52 AM | Link to this

Well, I won’t say this was time and energy wasted - because the cast didn’t seem to have spent much time rehearsing. This one should have been called “The dirty slushy snow on the side of the busy street.”

From the opening I was worried. The tall skinny one was Bob and the short dark haired one was Phil. And as the General stumbled through his lines the moment he got on stage.

And then the bell! Imagine hearing a lovely version of “Count Your Blessings” and as the last notes of the song fall away - the fire alarm goes off in the hallway. Now multiply that by 20. Every scene ends with the Fire Alarm and every scene begins with it. Who made that decision? Any emotional connection the actors managed to create was immediately severed by the theater tech with the Fire Alarm button. I found myself tensing and recoiling when ever a scene seemed to be winding to a close. Instead of losing myself in the magic of the Columbia Inn at Christmas, I found myself obnoxiously and regularly reminded that I had paid too much for a ticket to a mediocre show that was taking too long.

There were a few high points including the performance of Susan and Martha and Betty and Judy. The Christmas spirit is definitely a casualty of war in this one and by the end we all know why the general wasn’t reinstated to active duty.

I thought the musical ended as it deserved to - with so much confusion and haphazard storytelling that most of the audience missed out on the best part of the show. What a surprise. The surprise is that you have to fight the urge to leave after the final number - did you think the Fire Alarm wouldn’t get the last word.

Count your blessings that this show only runs until Sunday and then we have another six weeks to get the dirty snow off the streets and get into the real Christmas spirit.

By Laura

November 11, 2007 12:29 PM | Link to this

I saw this show last night and I have to agree with all of the previous reviews. It is not the best theatre experience I’ve ever had, but it certainly wasn’t the worst. My complaints were mostly with the writing and directing, not the performances.

I understand what the writer and/or director was going for with the whole “play within a film within a play” idea, but it didn’t work. If it had book-ended the show rather than every scene we would have still gotten the idea and not been rudely jarred out of the story by that d*mn bell. Plus it felt as though the device added a lot of time that could have been used for other things-developing the romances of the main characters or maybe an additional song (I really missed the “Mandy” number from the movie.)

Since they did use the filming device, the set pieces looked great and generally worked well (although they did tend to be a little cumbersome.) This is more of a personal statement, but The “Regency Room” set was way too pink. I realize that was the 1950’s but there were other color choices available. They also could put a little more thought to site-lines. In the second act I was by the orchestra pit, far house left and I missed the scene. I saw Betty’s solo (which was marvelous) but all I saw of the scene was the back of the banquet.

The costumes were lovely and mostly appropriate, the only issue I had with them also coincides with the one problem I had with the choreography. In the “Blue Skies” number, the ensemble costumes and choreography were way too “Bob Fosse” for this show. It completely detracted from the overall look. Other than that I drooled over the costumes and thoroughly enjoyed the dancing.

While I really liked the final dance number, I didn’t get the placement of it. Why did it come after the curtain call? The audience wants to leave, not sit back down again at the end. It would have worked better if it was part of the show the “actors” were putting on, not as an added bonus like a DVD special feature.

“The Old Man” song lacked punch with only three of the cast members onstage. They used the audience as the rest of the unit. The general’s speech was a little sappy, but not too bad.

Now for my major complaint- why oh why was the title song thrown away?! There was no lead up to it, the general’s speech happened, then they started singing “White Christmas.” This is where the ending dance number should have been. Since they wanted a “button” on the show the sing-a-long would have worked better at the end. Not as long and the audience leaves humming the title song, heightening the nostalgia factor.

Since it’s already been given away, I will say that the “snow” in the theatre was a fun surprise and even knowing it is coming shouldn’t detract from the enjoyment. At that moment, the set, the costumes and the “snow” combine to make a beautiful picture.

Now, for the actors. For the first act I was up in the nosebleed section, so I couldn’t tell who was who for a while. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen the movie every year since I was born, but I was initially surprised at the physical casting choices of Bob and Phil (the aforementioned issue of Bob being taller and skinnier than Phil.) Once that wore off, I could enjoy their performances. Tom Galantich as Bob Wallace has a beautiful voice that is easy to listen to. David Engel as Phil Davis was very engaging and charming. His dancing lacked the energy and acrobatics of Danny Kaye, but that was film. This is live theatre, it’s a little more difficult to do that.

Marla Schaffel and Kristen Beth Williams as Betty and Judy Haynes, respectively, are both incredibly talented performers and played off each other well. Ms. Schaffel gave a lovely performance and after reading her biography I can definately tell why. Wow! What a background- Julliard and the Moscow Art Theatre. She truly combined the acting and singing elements of her role. Ms. Williams is a wonderful dancer I wished she had more opportunities to show it off (the “Mandy” number.)

Karen Murphy was fabulous as Martha Watson- what a voice! I am tempted to go online and buy her cd that she mentions in her bio. She also added some great comic relief. Hannah Misera was also great as Susan, the general’s granddaughter. She was cute without being cloying and had none of the child actor “look at me” tendencies that you see so often. She was very natural and you can tell she is going to have a lovely alto/torch song voice when she gets older.

George McDaniel as the General had more to do than in the movie which was great. His character was fleshed out and we got to understand why his men were willing to travel to Vermont to see him on Christmas Eve, which was lacking in the movie. Mr. McDaniel’s acting was not quite as commanding as you would expect of a three-star general, but did not detract in a noticeable way. John Shuman’s appearances as Ezekiel Foster really stole the show. He was so dead-pan “Vermont yokel” every time he came on stage that the audience couldn’t get enough.

Overall, it was an enjoyable evening- a nice holiday treat. But I’m glad I didn’t pay $65 to see it.

By Lon

November 11, 2007 6:32 PM | Link to this

My wife and I saw the show on Sunday and enjoyed it. It was a fun way to kick off the Christmas season. If we were to grade it, we would give it a B+. It was far from the D- the reviewer gave it. It was a great way to spend an afternoon.

By Lon

November 11, 2007 6:33 PM | Link to this

My wife and I saw the show on Sunday and enjoyed it. It was a fun way to kick off the Christmas season. If we were to grade it, we would give it a B+. It was far from the D- the reviewer gave it. It was a great way to spend an afternoon.

By kate

November 12, 2007 12:55 PM | Link to this

i saw the show last night wiht my mom and my sister. we watch the movie every year as a start to the christmas season. although we were really excited to see the musical, we wondered if it would live up to the movie. it didn’t. having said that, there are some talented actors in the production, especially the actress who played martha. she was great comic relief. and little susan has a fabulously big voice for someone so small!

however, the musical within a film concept was really distracting. that bell was horrible! also, the chorus/dancers were not that great. i know this isn’t a broadway production or anything, but it just seemed like a really good high school show, which is not what we paid to see. the dancers were out of sync, and their singing wasn’t the greatest. and whoever said that “blue skies” was too bob fosse must have read my mind - exactly what i said to my mom after the show.

overall, there were too many over-the-top characters, too many set changes, just too much in general. i think the show would really benefit from more focus and less “stuff” cluttering up the story.

By J.L.

November 21, 2007 8:47 PM | Link to this

I think Brock is not very intelligent. I know that i disagree. You should definitly see the show. (esp. the wonderful Hannah Misera as Susan) In case you didnt notice she only got wonderful comments. BECAUSE she is such a talent. It would be a shame to miss her along with the other members of the wonderful cast. You have to see the show it will be in Buffalo Dec.18-23. DONT miss it. It will be great. Its a great show no matter what any one says. You WILL enjoy it. Despite the clanging bell.