San Diego Arts"Irving Berlin's White Christmas" at the Welk Resort Theatre
Welk strikes gold with "White Christmas" If you're one of those people who, like me, would rather not think about all that Christmas shopping you've got to do until days (if not hours) before the Big Event, November seems a bit early to be partaking in holiday pastimes. Now that the Thanksgiving turkey's been carved, though, and with December just around the corner, it's as good a time as ever to check out the Welk Resort Theatre's Yuletide offering, "Irving Berlin's White Christmas." In a departure from their longstanding annual tradition of musical Christmas revues modeled on the Lawrence Welk show itself, the company is producing the San Diego premiere of the new stage musical (though not the Southern California premiere boasted about on the show program cover -- I seem to recall a larger production of the same show at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood a couple years back). If it lacks the grand Hollywood scale of that production, director and choreographer Jon Engstrom more than makes up for it with breezy pacing and some winning (if chamber-sized) dance numbers.
 John Racca and Ensemble Copyright©2007 Marc Northover Based on the 1954 Paramount classic starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen, the plot (with book by David Ives and Paul Blake) is as standard issue as the U.S. Army uniforms that keep popping up periodically throughout the show. Boys get girls, boys lose girls, boys AND girls put on a show in the barn, and -- voilà! -- the snow starts falling just in time for a powdery white Christmas. It's all really just an excuse to showcase some great (and a few not-so-great) Irving Berlin songs. Singing the best of these is John Racca in the Bing Crosby role. Though Racca's singing voice is a little robust for the tender "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep," he's a charismatic leading man, guiding the audience in a rousing singalong of the title song, and he plays well opposite Erika Amato as his on-again off-again love interest. Her sultry, torchy "You Didn't Do Right By Me" is an Act II highlight.  Erika Amato and Rayne Marcus Copyright©2007 Marc Northover As the younger dancing couple, Mishi Schueller and Rayne Marcus lighten things up with several charming pas-de-deux. Their efforts are slightly hampered by Jennifer Edwards-Northover's uncharacteristically drab, too realistic lighting for their supposed fantasy, "The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing," and some of Debbie Roberts' costumes for their flashy "I Love a Piano" sequence are a little unfortunate, but these are thankfully exceptions rather than the rule.  Rayne Marcus and Mishi Schueller Copyright©2007 Marc Northover Real life husband and wife team Gene Brundage and Arlene Thomas team up as the decidedly not married innkeeper and his assistant. The dignified, crotchety Brundage is a nice contrast to Thomas' belty old broad, and although she's loaded down with "Let Me Sing and I'm Happy," a stale old Berlin B-lister if ever there were one, Thomas gamely delivers it across the footlights à la Merman. As the innkeeper's granddaughter, young actress Kelsey Smith has matured perhaps a bit too much for the role (that she shares with younger sister Hayley), but she nicely captures the innocent bookishness of a child of fifty years ago, and Engstrom never lets her stray into the petulant sass associated with many a smarty-pants of today. Similarly, Jason Maddy is a riot as the harried stage manager, and yet is able to steer clear of the high camp to which the role can too easily be taken. Don Evans is funny as a slower-than-molasses-in-January Vermonter, and the amiable Bryan Curtiss White helps to move the wisp of a plot along as the leading men's old army buddy. The leggy Kami Seymour is underused here in assorted bit parts, though we are treated to her fine dancing skills in a number or two.  Arlene Thomas and Kelsey Smith Copyright©2007 Marc Northover The small, talented dancing ensemble is comprised of Jeff Deards, Perry Lee, Michelle London, Erik McEwen, Jonas Neal, Diana Osborn, Kate Roth, and Katherine Stein. Their opening number, "Let Yourself Go," and the afore-mentioned "I Love a Piano" are tap-happy highlights, but lest anyone think this is "42nd Street" or "No, No, Nanette," Engstrom keeps the style firmly in the 1950s where it belongs (think less Busby Berkeley, more Ed Sullivan Show). Scenically, the cinematic "White Christmas" is a gargantuan endeavor for the Welk, and aside from some questionable small details (the American flag hasn't had a mere 32 stars since before the Civil War, and the promo pics on each side of the stage would be more at home out in the lobby), Andrew G. Hammer pulls off the herculean task with aplomb. Musical director Justin Gray's pit combo is typically puny, a shame considering the array of little-heard Berlin songs presented here. But if it's well-staged holiday nostalgia you're after, this "White Christmas" is probably your best bet short of booking a flight to see the Toronto cast. And why dig your passport out when you've got such a sure thing in your own backyard?
 Frankie Moran About the author: Frankie Moran is a graduate of the 2008 NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater at USC's Annenberg School of Communication. He was also a Phi Theta Kappa valedictorian at San Diego's own Mesa College and graduated from UCLA's School of Theater, Film, and Television. Frankie got his start in theater criticism writing reviews of Broadway shows during a short stint at Columbia University. Since then, he has written for the North County Times and the Las Cruces Bulletin. More by this author Subscribe to Arts:
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