Friday, 9 December 2022

White Christmas - The Musical (Liverpool Empire 09.12.2022)


16 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!

Buy tickets to White Christmas here (ATG website)

It seems serendipitous that four years after first experiencing this production of White Christmas at the marvellous Leicester Curve theatre back in 2018 I have returned for a fourth annual immersion in fabulous festive (festabulous?) cheer. Trips to London in 2019, watching the movie multiple times during Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020 and a joyous return at Bristol (and touring) in 2021 have made this a favourite of mine. It is also great to see some of the cast return - including Dan Burton, Jessica Daley and Monique Young who have all embraced these characters in Christmas past; Jay McGuiness (The Wanted) seamlessly made himself Bob Wallace as if he had, ahem, wanted to take the role for years. Here are just some of the highlights from this 5* show that just gets better each time I see it...
  • Straight away, the ensemble shine. During the opening scene, they are immersed in the holiday show yet clearly demonstrating their individual character's longing to be anyway else that Christmas Eve of 1944 and the loneliness of the situation they are in; plus Michael Starke makes for a great General Waverley. It was captivating.
  • Jay, Dan, Jessica and Monique instantly embody everything you know and love about Bob, Phil and the Haynes sisters. Their individual dressing room scenes and Bob and Betty singing Love & The Weather made it feel like catching up with old friends. The chemistry between them all was effortless and natural.
  • I always loved the character of Phil. He was a bit of a rogue but with a heart of gold. Dan Burton continues to delight in this role, not only through his witty yet nuanced portrayal, but with his dancing, singing and facial expressions. Two notes - it is easy to see how he played another of my favourite stage characters (Don Lockwood in Singing In The Rain) and it is also easy to see how Judy fell hard for his charms (played, of course, by the equally luminous Monique Young).
  • The show's first epic dance number (bravo to choreographer Stephen Mear) is The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing. Monique and Dan lead this number but it is the whole cast who shine like the brightest fairy lights on your Christmas tree. They fill the stage with a sophisticated grace that highlights the precision of their moves. Their whole bodies were at one with each other as well as the music and it was just breath-taking to watch.
  • (I'm always super impressed that people can dance so wonderfully in formal wear. If I even do Steps' Tragedy at a wedding I have to fling my tie off with gay abandon and roll up my sleeves to get down with my bad self. This cast? Immaculate).
  • The train car scene is always a hoot - and the cast were hamming it up during Snow, so much so that they seemed to be having as much fun as the audience. Jay was spot on with his curmudgeonly grumpiness, but the rest of us were easily intoxicated by the irrepressible enthusiasm of everyone else.
  • God bless actual icon Lorna Luft as Martha Watson. She instantly conveyed how she would be your biggest fan, yet not be afraid to kick your patootie if you got too big for your britches. She was just a little ray of sunshine. Her sassy, soulful Let Me Sing and I'm Happy certainly made me happy from head to (mistle)toe.
  • Blue Skies felt like the big Jay McGuiness number we all wanted and deserved. It certainly was a dazzling end to Act One. His voice is made for songs like this, soaring to the rafters of the grandiose Liverpool Empire and letting the audience feel every second. Again, the ensemble dancers were just phenomenal. I cannot heap enough praise or encourage you enough to witness for yourself. It was decadent, delightful and just jaw-dropping.
  • INTERMISSION!
  • I genuinely love a piano (as a pianist myself) and thus I love I Love A Piano. More stunning dancing, more delectable duet magic from Dan and Monique as Phil and Judy. The entire cast was as one and you didn't want it to end. One of the loudest audience responses of the night. Someone get this cast their own variety special!
  • Girl power! When Martha, Betty and Judy sing Falling Out Of Love Can Be Fun, there is such a sense of unity and friendship that it was almost tangible. Plus, they certainly gave the song its fair dues as a rip roaring romp where they refuse to wallow in their sadness and just kick up their heels and get on with life.
  • Jay and Dan had way too much fun doing Sisters. Correction - there is no way to have way too much fun doing Sisters. You just have to throw yourself into it and love every second. They did and thus, we did.
  • I thought Jessica Daley was just absolutely engaging as Betty Haynes. Hearing her sing Love You Didn't Do Right By Me again was such a thrill. It was a masterclass in vocal emotion. If Adele sung this right now, it would be critically acclaimed and number one for a month. Jessica's version deserves absolutely no less - it is a memory I will continue to treasure.
  • I love an ensemble and so many of them stood out. They added to the texture of the story, making it a well-rounded production that felt like it could have a weekly spin-off TV show focusing on their antiques at the Columbia Inn. I'd love to see what the deliciously sassy Rita (Sadie-Jean Shirley) and Rhoda (Lydia Bannister) as well as Mike (Tom Bales), Tessie (Isabel Canning - back again, hurrah!) and cast (Owen McHugh, Connor Hughes, Matthew Sweet, Joseph Craig, Imogen Bowtell, Gabrielle Cocca and Alexandra Wright) plus Ben Munday's Ed Sullivan get up to when the focus isn't on the core four. I'm sure Simon Anthony (Ralph Sheldrake) could be involved and Steve Fortune as Ezekiel would keep sweeping that stage. It would be like Smash 1955!
  • Little Susan Waverley (Lucy Warway) got loud cheers when she finally got to do her version of ...Happy. She certainly knew how to charm everyone from the front to the back rows :)
  • I almost wept with pure joy at the stirring finale number, White Christmas. And by almost wept I mean I actually did shed a few tears. It was just so heartfelt and euphoric that it made the cares of the world fade away and I was totally immersed in the moment. And isn't that what great theatre is all about? I left with their love to keep me warm and knowing that the best things happen while you're dancing. And dance I did - all the way back to the NCP car park next door. Go see this show. You won't regret it.
  • Final thought - can we have the exact same cast come back next year and debut the Broadway version of Holiday Inn please? Plus, if anyone finds my copy of the programme on the train please return it tout de suite! 
**Ghosts of Christmas past**
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