White Christmas is a magical holiday spectacular

by Joe Jennison

TCR - Theatre Cedar Rapids' production of White Christmas is a magical holiday gem.

Directed by Casey Prince, with music direction by Damon Cole and Steve Shanley, the classic retelling of the 1954 movie in the hands of TCR’s uber-talented cast and crew is a wonderful holiday gift to area audiences. Because it’s a classic, I don’t imagine I need to retell the story here, but for purposes of this review let’s briefly say that a successful male song-and-dance team meets up with a sister act and the foursome make their way to a snowless Vermont Inn to “put on a show.” And oh yes, snow falls and everyone lives happily ever after, all the while singing one fantastic Irving Berlin song after another. I loved it!

The play opens on Christmas Eve 1944 and Wallace and Davis (Richie Akers and Aaron Brewer) are performing for the troops on the Western Front. Here we also meet characters Ralph Sheldrake (Rob Merritt) and General Waverly (Dave Jepsen). Jepsen stops the singing and dancing and right away sets up his “tough-as-nails” character with some wonderful one-liners that he delivers with equal parts abrasiveness and sensitivity: “If you could march as well as you jingle, this war would be over,” he barks. Jepsen throughout the show plays both tough and funny, and when needed, he is able to use his earned comic respect to gently pull at the audience’s heartstrings.

Immediately following the 1944 scene we are whisked away to 10 years later and Wallace and Davis are now performing on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” The quick set change here is a precursor to several similar set changes throughout the piece that continue today to mystify me. Beautiful, colorful barns and train cars and entire TV soundstages, designed by Scott Humeston, seem to effortlessly appear and disappear throughout the show. Around these sets, as many as 26 brightly costumed, impeccably dressed chorus members sing and dance in unison. The costumes designed by Joni Sackett are a big part of the show’s success. It’s fun to watch her work in both the small and large roles – dozens of dancing turquoise and pinks and reds alongside costumed dancing Oxydol boxes and individual period dresses complete with matching pumps and gloves. I sat through the entire piece waiting, watching, wondering what Sackett would come up with next.

“The Ed Sullivan Show” set with its shimmering red curtain with iconic logo is juxtaposed nicely against a smoky, dimly lit Jimmy’s bar in Act One. And while Wallace and Davis perform on that big, bright TV stage, across town in a seedy nightclub sisters Betty and Judy Haynes (Katy Richter and Molly Prout) prepare for a show of their own. Richter and Prout’s first number together is “Sisters.” Costumed in Sackett-designed blue gowns, with white-and-blue feather fans, the two women are obviously very comfortable singing and dancing, and with this number, and several throughout the evening, seem to out-sing their male counterparts.

Take for instance Act One’s “Love and the Weather.” Richter waits patiently Stage Left as Akers takes his turn with the audience, and then she quietly but firmly takes her place on stage and belts her portion of the number with strength and confidence and poise. Later, she has a gorgeous turn in “Love You Didn’t Do Right By Me” performing in New York’s Regency Room standing in front of some beautiful Humeston sets in a long black Sackett-designed gown, complete with long black gloves and a diamond bracelet on her right wrist. I have watched this performer in several shows over the last few years and feel as if she has really matured and blossomed in this role. She performs “Love You Didn’t Do Right By Me” as if this 50s-era ballad was written especially for her.

Brewer and Prout have a wonderful chemistry together, are well matched and their voices blend perfectly. They shine together in two numbers: “The Best Things Happen When You’re Dancing” and “I Love a Piano.” The former offers them an opportunity to dance together across the stage while an offstage chorus offers them a soundtrack. The latter becomes a large tap number with red and white and black costumes and some well done choreography by Lovar Davis Kidd. Bother numbers are highpoints in the show.

Jan McCool offers a wonderful comic turn as Martha Watson, and is one of several performers that really seem to understand the comic timing that is so incredibly important in musical comedy. My favorite number in the piece is Act Two’s “Falling Out of Love Can Be Fun.” Here, Richter and Prout team up with McCool and deliver a well sung (and very funny) number.

As I write this, I am still laughing at several of the comic bits. Michael Cervantes plays Ezekiel Foster, a small character that says nothing but “Ayup” throughout the first half of the play. With that one line, the veteran performer received more laughs than nearly all the other performers combined. Nine-year-old Abby Merrill relishes her small part in the aforementioned “Falling Out Of Love Can Be Fun Number,” and later holds her own on stage with this large ensemble of adults with a powerful reprise of “Let Me Sing And I’m Happy” in Act Two. And Alex Schulte plays a city slicker stage manager with an unidentifiable (and funny!) accent trying to keep the show-within-the-show on schedule: “People, people,” he says. “Mr. Pig, a literal pig, my office mate, just ate the finale!”

Nathan Sean Nelson plays a wonderfully slimy, seedy-bar owner, whose happy hour is “from 7 to 7:05 nightly.” Emily Nelson and Amy Friedl Stoner as Rita and Rhoda bounce and giggle through several scenes as two very funny chorus girls, and show up in Act Two as scantily clad Christmas trees. And Jennifer Anderson as a cigarette girl, Bradley Fritz as a skier, Lyn A’Hearn as a snoring man’s wife, Matt Russell as a train conductor and several others turn up in funny roles and costumes throughout and remind me today as I write this of why I loved this show.

I have been talking about the magical ending to White Christmas to many people this past week. I tell them about the wonderful comic timing displayed by all, the music, the dancing, the costuming and sets… and then I talk about the ending.

At the finale of the show, the characters run to open the barn doors toward the back of the stage to see the snow begin to fall, and then magically the barn goes up into the rafters and the entire cast comes on stage to sing “White Christmas.” The snow continues to fall down over the entire stage now, and then the snow and the cold comes into the auditorium as well, and magically all of us in the audience get a dusting of snow as we are standing, applauding and smiling and cheering.

But director Casey Prince went one step further Friday night last. Director Prince and Theatre Cedar Rapids also brought the first snowfall this weekend to many parts of the Corridor, reminding us all of the magic of both theatre and Christmas.

Now, that’s a talented director. Well done.

White Christmas at Theatre Cedar Rapids, 102 Third St. SE, Cedar Rapids, plays through Dec. 18. The show is great and, as a result, it is sold out. To inquire about standby or cancellations, contact the box office through the Web site at www.theatrecr.org.


Joe Jennison is a freelance writer and playwright living in Mount Vernon. Questions and comments can be sent to joejennison@hotmail.com