'White Christmas'
White Christmas, by David Ives and Paul Blake, Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin. Directed by Doug Hodge.
It becomes quite unlikely that every movie musical can translate into a successful stage musical when you consider that not every stage show moves easily into the filmic medium.
Why would one direction be any better, or safer, than the other? At the MacHaydn there have been two such transition shows produced back-to-back. The first one, "Thoroughly Modern Millie" was a hit. Sadly, their latest effort, "White Christmas" the old Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen show-biz flick, hasn’t made a smooth shift onto the stage in Chatham.
The story of a sister act that hooks up with a pair of wildly successful Vaudeville type stars for a show and then faces every show business cliche that mars the possible happy ending, including a better offer, a single act, a misunderstanding of motives, a misunderstanding of messages, an irritating lack of commitment emotionally, and so on and so forth, is simply tiresome. Enlivened by a thrilling new score it could be worth trying, but when it is burdened with sixteen Berlin standards, many of them reprised, there’s an exhausting sense of nothing new, nothing enticing.
The songs themselves are wonderful and far more difficult to put across than most people think, and here is where the MacHaydn orchestra needs some help. The thinness of the sound that two synthesizers make when not properly amplified, as is the case here, worked fine for "Millie" but this show needs the lushness of the strings, the stridency of the brass. That’s Berlin in his ballad and up-tempo moods. The singers are unsupported by sound and that leaves the stars almost singing a capella. The show suffers from a lack of music in a show that has almost too much music and, impractically, too little character development.
The Haynes Sisters, Betty and Judy, are played by the Shook sisters, Karla and Kelly L. They are both good, reliable musical comedy players. They play well together in spite of their very obvious differences in style and voice. Having real music behind them, under their tones, would greatly help them, especially in the ballads.
Their two swains, the Broadway star team of Wallace and Davis are played by Austin Riley Green and Jamison Foreman. Green is the better singer but Foreman has the cute moves. Green’s austerity is offset by Foreman’s sleaziness. Together they would make one interesting man. In their hands musical sequences that should elicit delicious laughter from us, like their rendition of the Haynes Girls big number "Sisters" is done in a dry, dull manner and accompanied by outrageous hysterics from two chorus girls which removes any hope of charm or humor for the audience. In this particular instance everyone is at fault, except the audience. They’re the unintentional victims of a musical murder.
Shawn Morgan is interesting as the General and Rachel Black gives Martha a touch of class. Little Susie is played nicely by Robin Spateholts (she alternates with another actress).
There are excellent costumes by Jimm Halliday, but unfortunately clothes don’t make the man or the woman. Andrew Gmoser does a fine job lighting this show which has the longest scene changes in history for Bud Clark’s small, but awkward set pieces. Christine Negherbon’s choreography alternates from large and awkward to small and awkward, then surprises us with a brilliant second act opener for "I Love a Piano."
This show is definitely not a Christmas present in July. Almost as old-fashioned as the medieval title (Gammer Gurton's Needle) thrown at the General as his most recent theater experience, it’s just a large package with very little of interest inside the wrapping.
White Christmas plays through next weekend at the MacHaydn Theater on Route 203 in Chatham, New York. For tickets and information call 518-392-9292.