Irving Berlin's WHITE CHRITMAS Reviews — Page 2

Sorry, Namo. I'd place Necco wafers on the summer family vacation, stashed in the back of the station wagon, quikly crumbling to dust when you sit on them during a fist-fight with your too-strong sister.

But who would want to pay 140 bucks to see this cast in anything? Sorry, but it reeks of bus and truck.

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I would agree with Foster that there are enough positive elements in Isherwood's review to call it Mixed-Negative. He certainly didn't love it, but he did single out some of the numbers as being good, he praised the songs (well, who wouldn't) and he had a few nice things to say about the leads.

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Isherwood: Yes, he had nice things to say, but he negated practically everything with his opening sentence: "Still, you’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."


The Bergen Record is Mixed-to-Negative:

'...There's also a 10-year-old child in the show, the very capable Melody Hollis, playing the general's granddaughter.

In the film, the character is in her late teens. The age was reduced, I would guess, to provide a peer experience for kids in the audience, as well as to elicit an "isn't-she-cute?" reaction from parents.

As a show intended to entertain people who perhaps haven't seen many other Broadway musicals, and therefore lack the experience to judge the difference between the singular and the generic, "White Christmas" does its job. But no more than that.'

http://www.northjersey.com/entertainment/stage/34974854.html


The Daily News gives the show 3 Stars out of 5:

'As Broadway musicals go, it's a little creaky. But as a holiday entertainment, it's light and bright and boasts some great production numbers.

In the 1954 film, Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye played war buddies-turned showmen who romance singing sisters played by Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen.

Stephen Bogardus, Jeffry Denman, Kerry O'Malley and Meredith Patterson now play those respective parts and are all quite good, occasionally even better.'

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/arts/2008/11/24/2008-11-24_irving_berlins_white_christmas_shows_the.html


The Journal News is a Pan:

'Look, I don't want to be a Grinch. How mean-spirited would I have to be to pan "Irving Berlin's White Christmas," for goodness' sake, a seasonal entertainment with an Irving Berlin score that opened last night at the Marquis Theatre?

Let's just say that this live show is based on one of the best Christmas movies ever made - the 1954 "White Christmas" that starred Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney... so, by all means, buy the movie for your collection. Or rent it. See it at 9 p.m. Saturday on Lifetime.

Do not spend hundreds of dollars seeing this cheap and cheesy "live" version of the movie!'

http://www.lohud.com/article/20081124/ENTERTAINMENT/811240315/1186/Entertainment0801


The New York Post (with Frank Scheck reviewing) gives the show 2 Stars out of 4:

'LET it be noted for the record that I'm a sucker for Christmas. The ending of "Miracle on 34th Street" still makes me tear up, and don't even get me started on Judy Garland singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."

So it's more than a little disappointing that the Broadway production of "Irving Berlin's White Christmas" is so lacking in genuine Yuletide spirit. Looking to this would-be seasonal perennial for holiday cheer is like trying to get warm while watching the "Yule Log" on TV.'

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11242008/entertainment/theater/oh__its_all_white_140439.htm


Newsday is Mixed:

'The adaptation of the 1954 Bing Crosby movie, which opened last night at Broadway's cavernous Marquis Theatre, has lots of synchronized rat-a-tat tap dancing. It is generous with dreamy old songs by Irving Berlin. The good cast handles the old-fashioned snappy talk without overselling it. Carrie Robbins' handsome costumes appear to have been made with a budget intended for a long run - or, more accurately, a return engagement as an annual alternative to the Rockettes and "The Nutcracker."

In other words, "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.'

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/stage/ny-etwhite5939378nov24,0,3042495.story


NY1 - with video - is Positive:

'If you're at all familiar with the 1954 movie "White Christmas," you know that it's little more than a sweetly sentimental vehicle for Irving Berlin's timeless tunes fueled by the star power of its celebrated cast: Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen.

It's strictly old-fashioned and saccharine by today's standards, and yet, for those of you willing to partake of this holiday treacle, hats off to its creative team who reproduced its dated charms for the stage as if it were a vintage photograph.'

http://www.ny1.com/content/ny1_living/theater_reviews/89667/ny1-theater-review---white-christmas-/Default.aspx


The Philadelphia Inquirer is a Rave:

'The lead performers deliver Berlin's swell songs with an obvious passion for the lyrics. The charismatic Stephen Bogardus (here, he even resembles a young Bing Crosby) and Jeffry Denman are the two performers, Army veterans, who create a show to get their retired commander out of financial straits. Kerry O'Malley and Meredith Patterson are wonderfully girlish as their love interests. Charles Dean is the retired officer and Susan Mansur, the busy-body who tries to keep them all in line.

The entire production strikes a perfect tone for a big-deal Broadway holiday show. The first cold spell came early, but it was no match for White Christmas on the frigid night I saw it. The show transmits a penetrating warmth, like sipping hot cider on a crisp December night.'

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20081124_White_Christmas__merry_and_bright.html


Time Out New York gives the show 3 Stars out of 6:

'The war on Christmas has begun, and O Holy Night, it looks ugly. In place of real human emotion there are ersatz, robotic gestures; rather than peace and goodwill there’s a callow, promilitary stance; in place of charity and modesty, there’s gaudiness and greed. What secular ghouls are behind this attack on the Baby Jesus and his eight reindeer? Look no further than the Marquis Theatre, where the nigh-animatronic White Christmas has landed for the holidays, a sub-Vegas attraction that has you pining for the Grinch.'

http://www.timeout.com/newyork/articles/theater/69197/irving-berlins-white-christmas


The Wall Street Journal is Very Positive:

'I don't want to claim more for "Irving Berlin's White Christmas" than it deserves. Except for the score, it's nothing more than an expensive applause machine, and if it touches you, then you're a soft touch. Nevertheless, I don't see how anyone who loves Broadway musicals can fail to be pleased by so polished and ingenious a show. Synthetic jukebox musicals are hardly my thing, but this is the smartest one to hit Broadway since "Crazy for You." Take it for what it is and you'll go home happy.'

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122780129181761699.html

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Updated On: 11/30/08 at 12:49 PM

The negative reviews are all 100% on target. Its a bland show filled with wonderful Irving Berlin songs. But the show plods along, isn't exciting, isn't interesting and has no holiday spirit whatsoever. Beautiful sets and a couple of fun tap numbers are not enough to make a good show. Its a show geared to the tourist trade. They'll love it, and they can spend $$$ on their tickets. I'm just glad that I got comps.

I'm watching the charming film as I'm re-reading these mixed to negative reviews. I've never seen it on stage, skipped it during the Seattle run two years ago, but I am familiar with the cast album. I am baffled that something that has gotten positive buzz during its healthy regional life was dismissed so quickly by critics. What did they expect? Yes, it's fluff. So what? It's delightful fluff.

Perhaps Bobbie/Skinner and the producers would have fared better with a bit starrier of a cast.

Still, watching the film and listening to that heavenly score (I still can't believe, well I can because it's him, John Simon's knocking of Berlin's gorgeous songs) fills me with warmth. Though, it has always struck me as odd that a film called White Christmas is hardly, sans start and end, about Christmas at all.

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Sold out??? I walked up to the box-office one hour before curtain and got fifth row center. Hardly sold out - two empty seats next to me, and many scattered empty seats in the orchestra and balcony.

Time Out NY gave it a very hard pan, calling it "sub-Vegas".

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Here's what a longtime cast member has to say:

https://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=36823

RentBoy86, do the lotto. Front row, $26.50. Great seats, not a very busy lotto, especially on a weeknight or a Sunday night.

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