KAYSVILLE — Hopebox Theatre brings a Christmas classic to their stage with Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. The production with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin and a book by David Ives and Paul Blake is based on the Paramount Pictures film by Norman Krasna, Norman Panama, and Melvin Frank. Director Karllen Johnson delivers a production full of the warmth and happy holiday feelings one would expect from such an idyllic Christmas musical.
Production Design & Staging
White Christmas is a really nice fit for the Hopebox Theatre. The Hopebox’s corner stage puts the performers close to the audience, creating a much more intimate feel than a proscenium stage or larger venue. This is probably best highlighted by the opening scene, where General Waverly addresses his troops as they watch the makeshift Christmas show. The transition between audiences watching the show and becoming part of the General’s troops really works. Bringing the audience into the story has a natural conclusion at the finale, where Wallace and Davis have surprised the General with the returning troops.
Scenic designer Morgan Golightly did an excellent job creating a versatile curtain and stage panel which transitioned by folding open with scenic builder Curtis Dalton. This combination of static stage elements created distinction between the inn’s interior, the barn, and other settings. Adding the curtain was a really nice choice allowing for scenes where characters are performing the show within the show. The exterior stage walls were hand-painted with beautiful snow-covered pine trees on a landscape of white snow. The scenic painting by Emma Hale was excellent and really helped create the ambiance of the dream of a White Christmas.
Director Johnson did well keeping the energy high during the first act so the production felt seamlessly paced and engaging. It helps that a lot of the major plot points happen in the first act: the army scene, the boys meeting the Haynes sisters, arriving in Vermont, and then beginning the plan honoring the General.
Unfortunately, the second act felt subpar in comparison. The pacing slowed, and by the end, I really felt the length of the production, which ran almost 2 hours and 40 minutes including a 20-minute intermission (and a brief delay at the start). This is partly how the film is adapted; the second act has far less going on as it’s focused on resolving the couples’ conflicts. Also, there are fewer high energy large ensemble numbers.
On that note, I felt the dance numbers were well done. There are a lot of lengthy dance sequences in White Christmas and choreographer Canada Johanson featured a variety of styles and skills. Johanson was able to balance the variety of skill among the cast by featuring a mix of large and small groupings. The small groups and soloists demonstrated more advanced technique as in “Happy Holiday”, “I Love a Piano”, and “The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing”.
“Blue Skies” was a highlight of humorous character performance and choreography. The stage manager Mike (Scott Ostermiller) spends the song anxiously seeking to fix the curtain, correct the dancer’s staging, and replace everyone’s hats as they keep falling off while the ensemble rehearses. It really demonstrates how several musical numbers are actually a rehearsal for a future performance. So, the stage manager is meticulously trying to make sure of every detail in the transition from Broadway to a barn.
Performances (Silver Cast)
Bob Wallace, played by Justin Lee, and Phil Davis, played by Jeff Erickson, did a really nice job establishing their camaraderie and friendship early in the show. Erickson has a natural humor and delivered many of Phil’s humorous one liners and funny moments well. Lee was a great balance to Erickson, and their scenes together felt natural. Both their voices blended well on “Happy Holiday” and “Let Yourself Go”. Lee’s singing performance of “White Christmas” was beautiful.
The Haynes sisters, Kat Tietjen as Betty Haynes and Sidney Brown as Judy Haynes, balanced very well with the men. From their first duet, “Love and the Weather,” Lee and Tietjen sounded wonderfully in harmony. Bob and Betty’s relationship grows throughout and both Lee and Tietjen made this character growth compelling. It was a relief seeing them resolve their misunderstanding. In particular, Tietjen did well showing Betty’s insecurity and how she grows in confidence and love.
Sidney Brown and Jeff Erickson did a really good job as the featured dance couple for “The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing” and later in “I Love a Piano”. Brown was particularly well cast for a lead dancing role to highlight her advanced technique. Both versions of “Sisters”, the first with the Haynes and the outrageously fun reprisal with the men, were delightful. It was unfortunate Brown and Tietjen started early over the prerecorded music on their performance of “Sisters”, but they corrected the mistake by the second verse. There were other moments the cast generally seemed uncertain of when to begin over the prerecorded music.
Martha Watson, the concierge of the inn, was played by Donna Bell. Bell brought a lot of brightness and sass to her performance of the former showgirl looking for the spotlight. Martha clearly inspires Susan Waverly (played by Brooklyn Head) to join the show! Additional ensemble members added charm as Director Johnson stages them as interacting around the edges of scenes in casual ways. The cast’s heart and friendship are really apparent in the smiles and joy onstage.
Roland Tietjen, playing General Waverly, gave my favorite performance. Every scene he played was genuinely affecting. R. Tietjen’s delivery of General Waverly’s monologue in the opening scene when he speaks of praying that in ten years it might be a better world was very moving. What a hopeful message during Christmastime and in the contentious world in which we now live.
Conclusion
This production of White Christmas is a great Christmas show and is perfectly in line with the mission of the Hopebox Theatre, which honors a member of the community fighting cancer as a “Wall of Hope” recipient. As the whole plot of White Christmas centers on two former soldiers honoring their forgotten and financial struggling Army General, there is resonance in the Wall of Hope recipient, Julie Newton, receiving a portion of the ticket sales and direct donations from community engagement in the arts. I can think of no better show whose story and season better highlights service to others and the hope that the future may be merry and bright.
This production is double cast and this review is of the Silver Cast. Look for an upcoming review of the Teal Cast will be published later this week. As the two performances are attended by two different reviewers, each review provides a unique perspective and critique on the production’s common elements in addition to reviewing the different casts.
