White Christmas

White Christmas is one of the most iconic Christmas shows which is loved by everyone, it is a great pity that we only get chance to see this show at this time of year, it was originally called “Holiday Inn” and I think it should have remained with that title so we can enjoy it all year through.

In order for this show to work you have to have four top class actors to play the main leading characters and here we had four of the best, Martin Richardson, Ben Bailey, Gemma Helliwell and Laura Kelly who played Bob Wallace, Phil Davies, Betty Haynes and Judy Haynes respectively. It is not very often that you get one triple threat performer let alone four of them all in the same show.

Both Martin and Ben were able to show off their excellent singing voices as well as their top class acting, this was also so true of Gemma and Laura, whose voices blended so well it was pure magic each time they sang, none more so than in the classic song Sisters.

In the number “I love a piano” Ben and Laura were able to show the audience exactly what they wanted as they both tapped away on a “grand piano”.

As Bob, Phil, Betty and Judy dance their way through the show, the other character we focus on is General Henry Waverley, a retired military man who for his retirement bought The Columbia Inn in Vermont, both Bob and Phil had served under him during the war.

General Waverley was in the more than capable hands of Glyn Bigham, who was able to deliver the good to portray Henry as the commanding officer he used to be.

Working alongside Waverley was his right-hand man, or woman, Martha Watson, the concierge played by Sarah Golder, who has an outstanding voice and was able to command the role as much as General Waverley commanded his troops. A great line which Martha says is “we argue all the time, never have sex, no wonder people think we are married”, apologies if this is not totally correct.

Also in The Columbia Inn is General Waverley’s granddaughter, Susan, or Susie dependant on which day it is, although very young Molly Hill was able to deliver the goods to the full and I am sure the entire audience fell in love with her from her first entrance on stage.

There are many characters in this piece and it is not possible to give everyone a mention, however I would like to mention three characters, Mike, who is the company manager who on each entrance bellows directions to each of the performers, George Wakely was superb in this role and brought many comedic moments to it.

I would also like to mention the part of Ezekiel Foster played by Tim Tubbs, Ezekiel doesn’t have many lines in the show, his main one being “yup” but each time Tim entered the stage as Ezekiel everyone knew he was there and when he uttered the line “yup” the whole audience erupted.

The third character is that of Ralph Sheldrake, again not a very large character but one which needs to be in the right hands to ensure it is played to the full, well in the hands of David Grace the production team need have no worries, he was perfect.

All the principal characters were ably supported by a full company of chorus and dancers and as this can be classed as a dancing show it meant a great deal of work for the dancers to do, and do it they did, all of them being first class.

All the actors, singers and dancers were also extremely well supported by a brilliant orchestra which played all the tunes we love, superbly.

A production such as this needs to have a director with a great imagination, who alongside the MD and the choreographer are able to work together to really think outside the box, Alex Weatherhill   together with Andrew Davison and Adam Crossley proved to be the winning combination.

Working on The Spa stage is not the easiest of spaces to work with but the ingenious use of prop suitcases to create the various scenes certainly appeared to look easy, I’m not sure exactly how many of these suitcases were used but by using them and the cast to move them around the stage a build the various items was perfect.

A number of the suitcases were put together to create the grand piano on which Phil and Judy danced and this also was perfect.

Congratulations to everyone involved in this outstanding production which was truly a team effort.White Christmas is one of the most iconic Christmas shows which is loved by everyone, it is a great pity that we only get chance to see this show at this time of year, it was originally called “Holiday Inn” and I think it should have remained with that title so we can enjoy it all year through.

In order for this show to work you have to have four top class actors to play the main leading characters and here we had four of the best, Martin Richardson, Ben Bailey, Gemma Helliwell and Laura Kelly who played Bob Wallace, Phil Davies, Betty Haynes and Judy Haynes respectively. It is not very often that you get one triple threat performer let alone four of them all in the same show.

Both Martin and Ben were able to show off their excellent singing voices as well as their top class acting, this was also so true of Gemma and Laura, whose voices blended so well it was pure magic each time they sang, none more so than in the classic song Sisters.

In the number “I love a piano” Ben and Laura were able to show the audience exactly what they wanted as they both tapped away on a “grand piano”.

As Bob, Phil, Betty and Judy dance their way through the show, the other character we focus on is General Henry Waverley, a retired military man who for his retirement bought The Columbia Inn in Vermont, both Bob and Phil had served under him during the war.

General Waverley was in the more than capable hands of Glyn Bigham, who was able to deliver the good to portray Henry as the commanding officer he used to be.

Working alongside Waverley was his right-hand man, or woman, Martha Watson, the concierge played by Sarah Golder, who has an outstanding voice and was able to command the role as much as General Waverley commanded his troops. A great line which Martha says is “we argue all the time, never have sex, no wonder people think we are married”, apologies if this is not totally correct.

Also in The Columbia Inn is General Waverley’s granddaughter, Susan, or Susie dependant on which day it is, although very young Molly Hill was able to deliver the goods to the full and I am sure the entire audience fell in love with her from her first entrance on stage.

There are many characters in this piece and it is not possible to give everyone a mention, however I would like to mention three characters, Mike, who is the company manager who on each entrance bellows directions to each of the performers, George Wakely was superb in this role and brought many comedic moments to it.

I would also like to mention the part of Ezekiel Foster played by Tim Tubbs, Ezekiel doesn’t have many lines in the show, his main one being “yup” but each time Tim entered the stage as Ezekiel everyone knew he was there and when he uttered the line “yup” the whole audience erupted.

The third character is that of Ralph Sheldrake, again not a very large character but one which needs to be in the right hands to ensure it is played to the full, well in the hands of David Grace the production team need have no worries, he was perfect.

All the principal characters were ably supported by a full company of chorus and dancers and as this can be classed as a dancing show it meant a great deal of work for the dancers to do, and do it they did, all of them being first class.

All the actors, singers and dancers were also extremely well supported by a brilliant orchestra which played all the tunes we love, superbly.

A production such as this needs to have a director with a great imagination, who alongside the MD and the choreographer are able to work together to really think outside the box, Alex Weatherhill   together with Andrew Davison and Adam Crossley proved to be the winning combination.

Working on The Spa stage is not the easiest of spaces to work with but the ingenious use of prop suitcases to create the various scenes certainly appeared to look easy, I’m not sure exactly how many of these suitcases were used but by using them and the cast to move them around the stage a build the various items was perfect.

A number of the suitcases were put together to create the grand piano on which Phil and Judy danced and this also was perfect.

Congratulations to everyone involved in this outstanding production which was truly a team effort.

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