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

WEBSITE

TICKETS

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

ARCHIVE

PicksInSix® is a registered trademark of Roxbury Road Creative, LLC

PicksInSix Review: The Audience - Drury Lane Theatre

Brooks Holds Court in “The Audience.”
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Ronald Keaton

I had the unique opportunity of seeing the original Broadway production of Peter Morgan’s historical play about Queen Elizabeth II, “The Audience,” back in 2015, with the fabulous Helen Mirren and a host of excellent actors in support.  The research into the subject matter is meticulous and well-organized, and if you’re a history buff, you will absolutely love this wonderful creativity.  If you’re not and you keep an open mind, it will lure you in with a kind of picture-book approach of a history lesson, that couldn’t be more entertaining in its turns, and they’re offered by the fine actors seen here. 

“The Audience” takes place during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, specifically focusing on her weekly meetings with the prime minister in office.  It’s not told in a linear fashion, but in a kind of memory focus, so we get an interesting and full scrapbook of storytelling.  There’s even a narrator-on-staff, so to speak—the versatile Jürgen Hooper as the Equerry—to help guide us through the maze of time and place and, well, all the prime ministers, as well as a young Elizabeth (Omi Lichtenstein in an impressive turn) to whom the adult Queen can relate to on occasion.

All the meetings are held in what’s called ‘The Meeting Room’ in Buckingham Palace. It is very simple, accessible staging by director Jessica Fisch. Center stage are two chairs with a small table between them, where all the discussions take place. It might have helped a bit to have the prime ministers and/or the Queen get up and move more often to vary the scene, but that’s nothing that overcomes the fine storytelling.  Ms. Fisch also has created a smooth, absolutely silent scene change habit for those chairs and other set pieces, musically underscored, that actually entertains on its own, thanks to a wonderfully restrained, elegant scenic design by Andrew Boyce.

The entire play is owned by Queen Elizabeth II and taken into charge by the redoubtable Janet Ulrich Brooks, one of Chicago’s truly talented, fascinating actors. She plays Elizabeth from the beginnings of her reign in 1952 by meeting her first Prime Minister, Winston Churchill (an irascible, almost knightly Matt DeCaro), who detests and resists any turn from tradition in the meetings and, indeed, reinforces the Queen’s grandfather, George V, in his insistence on maintaining such structure. The Queen stands up to the great man with questions and methods of her own; they reach a shaky truce of sorts by meeting’s end, and one tips a hat to her resolve.

All the Prime Ministers are at once impressed, shaken and establish their own friendly joust with the Queen.  The first PM appointee Anthony Eden (excellently manipulative and fearful by Mark Ulrich) betrays his reputation with his mismanagement of the Suez Canal affair. Ron E. Rains offers a surprisingly full-bodied and humorous Harold Wilson, thanks to the playwright’s gift of three different scenes with the Queen. (Mr. Wilson did have two separate terms in office, thus justifying what we see.) Susie McMonagle clutches the expected aggressive stance as Margaret Thatcher in a gripping, properly uncompromising exchange with Brooks’ Queen. Both John Major (John Judd) and Tony Blair (Alex Goodrich) leave strong marks on their terms in the office for totally disparate reasons. The Scot, Gordon Brown (Raymond Fox) followed the Churchillian path of Chancellor of the Exchequer in stabilizing the UK’s economy, which led to his PM appointment.  And David Cameron (a second turn by Mr. Goodrich) led the first peacetime British coalition government that voted to leave the European Union in 2016, forcing him to resign.

The richness in history is handled by Elizabeth with varying degrees of attitude, but always in support of each charge. And the many physical changes in Ms. Brooks’ appearance onstage are deftly handled through those aforementioned scene changes with wig and dress by a hugely talented palace staff, both in the story and through the craft. This fine production of a rare play runs at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace through October 20.  

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | RONALD KEATON received an Equity Jeff Award for the performance of his one-man show CHURCHILL. www.solochicagotheatre.com  Coming soon, his new solo play “Echo Holler.” www.echoholler.com

PHOTO| Brett Beiner

Drury Lane Theatre
presents
The Audience
100 Drury Lane
Oakbrook Terrace
through October 20, 2024

WEBSITE

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

ARCHIVE

PicksInSix® is a registered trademark of Roxbury Road Creative, LLC