PicksInSix Review: White Christmas - Paramount Theatre

Counting Blessings at Paramount’s ‘White Christmas!”
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Regina Belt-Daniels

What better way to kick off the holiday season than a visit to a cozy Vermont inn courtesy of Paramount Theatre’s phenomenal production of “White Christmas” now playing though January 11 in Aurora. With iconic musical numbers written by Irving Berlin, a book by David Ives and Paul Blake, and the big stage production values that are the hallmark of Paramount’s 1900-seat show palace, this satisfying slice of holiday nostalgia will take your breath away.

The show is expertly directed by Stephen Schellhardt who makes his directorial debut for Paramount’s Broadway Series after directing “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” at the Copley last spring. Schellhardt’s “White Christmas” is brilliantly cast, extremely well-paced and very entertaining with dynamic choreography by Tiffany Krause and tap choreography by Annie Jo Fischer. Music director/conductor Kory Danielson delivers 21 songs with a flawless 15-piece orchestra including heartfelt musical numbers ranging from “Blue Skies” and “Happy Holidays” to the iconic “Sisters” and the incredible finale “White Christmas.”

This much you probably know: The show is based on the 1954 Bing Crosby/Danny Kaye film, the plot is sweet, simple and memorable. With World War II over, former GIs Bob Wallace and Phil Davis (Alex Syiek and Evan C. Dolan) are now a popular song and dance team who meet an equally talented sister act in Betty and Judy Haynes (Sophie Grimm and Jesse J. Potter) They travel to Vermont to a quaint inn owned by their former Army General Henry Waverly (David Girolmo) who is on the verge of losing everything. One thing leads to another and the gang convert the barn to a theater to put on a show that features a show-stopping list of Irving Berlin’s best songs and memorable dance numbers.

Syiek is superb as the stoic crooner Bob Wallace, the guiding force behind the song and dance team of the Wallace and Davis, the toast of Broadway. Syiek’s Wallace, who is occasionally gruff on the surface and shies away from love, is excellent as the dignified half of the team rendering calm and soothing vocals in all his duets especially “Count Your Blessings” and “Love and the Weather.” Dolan is a very talented singer/actor/comedian and a masterful dancer especially in Act Two’s showstopper “I Love a Piano” with Potter, the blonde bombshell of the Haynes Sisters’ act. Potter is a very talented singer/actor/dancer and has a sunny engaging personality and plays well with Dolan. Grimm is fantastic as the logical and level-headed Betty Haynes, the mature half of the sister’s team. Her complicated relationship with Wallace is central to the story and Grimm’s incredible solo appearance at Manhattan’s Imperial Theater is a sultry, star-making performance.

The ensemble of 22 are charismatic, powerful and energetic in their pursuit of perfection, and oh so talented! I wish I could mention them one and all as everyone in this gifted ensemble plays multiple roles. There are six supportive standouts: Susan Waverly, the perky visiting granddaughter of the General is portrayed by Omi Lichtenstein and knocks it out of the park. (Lichtenstein alternates the role with Tessa Mae Pundsack). Abby C. Smith is Martha, the loyal adjunct to the General managing his Inn (while hiding the bills) and is a potential love interest and definitely competition for Ethel Merman with her stunning presence and vocal range. Ralph Sheldrake, the Ed Sullivan TV associate and Army buddy is played by the wonderful Jason Richards, who provides levity with his “million dollar proposition.” The commanding Girolmo is incredible as the no nonsense retired General/reluctant innkeeper Henry Waverley. You will enjoy the riotously funny showgirls Rita and Rhoda—“cousins of Phil Davis”— delightfully portrayed by Alexandra Palkovic and Emma Ogea, and, Carl Draper as the steadfast, honest, and slow moving Ezekiel Foster, the Inn’s barn protector/cleaner/lighting designer for the show.

For the Paramount stage production, striking images of the 50’s and ‘60’s are invoked by the scenic and projection design of Jeffrey D. Kmiec (especially the Manhattan skyline), the sumptuous era-appropriate costume designs of Mara Blumenfeld, that range from sparkly show dresses and tuxes to colorful rehearsal clothes, and the gorgeous wigs, hair, and makeup designs of Katie Condis. Craig Hoffman’s riveting lighting design and the crisp sound design of Adam Rosenthal make “White Christmas” a stunning visual feast and truly a rich and engaging production for the entire family that is brimming with the spirit of Christmas. Fill your holiday season with Paramount’s “White Christmas” and you will be ‘counting your blessings’ and singing these cheerful Irving Berlin tunes right into the New Year!

Guest Contributor | REGINA BELT-DANIELS is a retired special education teacher who has acted, directed, and staged managed throughout Illinois and has reviewed theater for numerous publications for over a decade.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this review omitted Annie Jo Fischer’s contribution as tap choreographer.

PHOTO | Boris Martin

Paramount Theatre
presents
Irving Berlin’s
White Christmas
23 E Galena  Blvd, Aurora
through January 11, 2026

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PicksInSix Review: Holiday Inn - Drury Lane

The Home of Boy Meets Girl

Just in time to ring in the season comes Irving Berlin’s “Holiday Inn” a refreshingly homespun backstage musical for the entire family chocked full of explosive dance numbers and the iconic tunes that everyone knows and loves from the Berlin songbook. In the capable hands (and feet) of director/choreographer Matt Crowle, with a streamlined book by Gorgon Greenberg and Chad Hodge, and a stellar company from head to toe, Drury Lane’s “Holiday Inn” is a high-wattage hit!

The stage story setup, more or less true to the original 1942 film, follows crooner/composer Jim Hardy (Adrian Aguilar) and his dance partners Ted Hanover (Drew Humphrey) and Lila Dixon (Darilyn Burtley) who have their sights set on the big time. Hardy wants to settle down with Lila in Connecticut, just as Hanover and their agent Danni Reed (Honey West) book a six-week tour. Despite a marriage proposal from Hardy to Lila, the tour proceeds and Hardy is off on a new adventure as a gentleman farmer and owner of Mason Farm. The farm’s caretaker Louise (Danielle Davis) has a plan to help Hardy and set him up with an elementary teacher and the former owner of the farm Linda Mason (Erica Stephan). One thing leads to another, the engagement falls apart and the two suddenly realize they may have something more in common than the fact that the farm is still deep in debt. With few other options, they decide to turn the inn into a holiday show place, but only on holidays.

Miraculously, and only in a musical, the stage show blooms in a week so that as New Year’s Eve rolls around Holiday Inn magically becomes “the home of boy meets girl.” The story sails by after that and serves as a path to one tremendous dance number after another—every one a gem!

In a remarkable, and long overdue, return to the stage after a multi-year absence, Aguilar is phenomenal as Hardy, a steady anchor who adds numerous dimensional layers to the role. The sure-footed hoofer Humphrey has an abundance of talent and more than enough savoir faire to deliver a series of exhilarating dance numbers. The two are paired with Burtley, who gives a captivating standout performance as Lila. When attention turns to the heartwarming Stephan and the budding relationship with Aguilar’s Hardy, sparks really begin to fly. Stephan not only has a beautifully full singing voice that matches perfectly with Aguilar, she also dances effortlessly with Humphrey in multiple numbers. It’s a joy to watch unfold.  

Among the featured musical performances, Davis is hilariously delightful as Louise, leading the Ensemble in a dazzling performance of “Shaking the Blues Away” and there’s more than a few surprises in “Let’s Say It With Firecrackers/Song of Freedom” with a nifty cameo by Nicole Scimeca (who splits the role of Charlie Wilson with Lily Kocourek). There is plenty to be thankful for all night long when the score has hits like “Be Careful, It’s My Heart,” “Cheek to Cheek,” “Blue Skies,” “White Christmas” and “Heat Wave.”

Music Director Linda Madonia and conductor Christopher Sargent deliver the crisp, big band sound of Carey Deadman arrangements. Jeffrey D. Kmiec’s versatile scenic design transitions seamlessly from show stage to New England inn with Lynda Meyers elegant and evocative costumes punctuating every holiday. Lee Fiskness lighting design is enhanced by Bryce Culter’s projections and pin-perfect sound by Ray Nardelli all help to start the New Year right at Drury Lane.  

PHOTO|Brett Beiner

DRURY LANE THEATRE
presents
IRVING BERLIN’S
HOLIDAY INN
through January 9, 2022

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PicksInSix Theater Review - Marriott Theatre Irving Berlin's "Holiday Inn"

“Holiday Inn” Cast Really Making Hay!

In the opening moments of the Marriott Theatre’s glorious new production of “Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn” that opened Wednesday night, Michael Mahler, one of Chicago’s most gifted actors, a top-tier vocalist, musician and composer, stepped up to the lone stage piece – a ‘40s era console piano – and proceeded to perform selections from the overture live. Mahler played flawlessly, as he does throughout his superb performance as the famous ‘hit man’/crooner turned gentleman farmer Jim Hardy, right in step with conductor Patti Garwood’s orchestra to ring in the rich tones of the Berlin songbook that follows. Under the “Blue Skies” of this Connecticut farm setting, the “Holiday Inn” cast is really making hay!   

“Holiday Inn” — book by Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge — is directed by Denis Jones, who also choreographs, as he did in the 2016 Greenberg-directed Broadway production which received a Tony nomination for Jones. That inspired production, which had the benefit of a proscenium stage and wing space, fits very nicely in Marriott’s round configuration. There are a lot of moving parts and the set, lighting and projections/media team — Scott Davis, Jesse Klug and Anthony Churchill — make it all come together seamlessly.

Front and center — a perfect match for Mahler — is the captivating, triple-threat talent, Johanna McKenzie Miller as Linda Mason who just about everyone falls for, right down to the precocious Charlie Winslow played by 9 year-old Patrick Scott McDermott. The drama in this familiar hometown-to-Hollywood love story – based on the 1942 film starring Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds and Virginia Dale that featured ‘White Christmas’ – revolves around the schmoozing hoofer Ted Hanover (Will Burton) who crashes the New Year’s Eve party after being ditched by his partner, and Hardy’s fiancé, Lila Dixon (Kimberly Immanuel). Despite the push and pull of efforts back on the farm and on the phone by the handy-dandy Louise (Marya Grandy), the impassioned agent Danny Reed (Lorenzo Rush, Jr.), and, an unsuspecting farm animal, things have a way of sorting themselves out.

Jones’ electrifying ensemble delivers the finest dancing that you will see on a stage anywhere in Chicago right now. There are no less than a half-dozen, lavish, upbeat company numbers, with everyone decked out in Sally Dolemko’s exquisite, holiday-inspired costumes, ripping through the iconic Berlin score under the musical direction of Ryan T. Nelson.

The singing, dancing, heart-tugging joy ride is full-throttle with ‘Shaking the Blues Away,” a scene played out this|close with a stage full of dancers, milk buckets and jump ropes of holiday lights. Burton is terrific as the debonair Hanover who dances up a storm with the ravishing Immanuel, when he is not with Miller, or on his own in the Fourth of July ode “Let’s Say It with Firecrackers.” In the featured dance number “You’re Easy to Dance With,” Burton and ‘the Girls’ delight right down to the perfectly executed backward tap-dancing line!

From the hotter-than-hot “Heat Wave,” the elegance of “Easter Parade” and “White Christmas” and all the holidays in between, when you step out with your baby for this one, you will definitely “Have Plenty to be Thankful For!” Don’t miss it!

PHOTOS|Liz Lauren

MARRIOTT THEATRE
Presents
IRVING BERLIN’S
HOLIDAY INN
through January 6th, 2019

Ten Marriott Drive
Lincolnshire, IL 60069
847-634-0200

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