White Christmas

It’s quite a rarity to be asked to attend a premiere but this was the case after this Society became the first amateur Society in the UK to stage a production of this show.   They are to be congratulated on their achievement and for their courage in doing so.  Not an easy show for amateurs in the first place, life is made no easier when none of the suppliers of scenery or costumes have yet produced their material for it.  

Despite all this, the end result was an entertaining evening of Irving Berlin standards, some of which were much less familiar than others, supplemented by some excellent dance routines.  The casting requires two youngish couples to provide the majority of the plot and the songs but there is the hint of a longer term relationship between another pair of more mature years and even a rather precocious teenager, all of whom made the most of their opportunities to inject some humour. The action fluctuates between New York and Vermont and even a train in between so that there are heavy demands on the scenery and costume departments but they coped admirably.  The final Christmassy scene for the title number was quite stunning.

Indeed, it was no surprise to return home to see the first snow of the winter on my garden. So, how did you manage that, Tadcaster?

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