Irving Berlin’s White Christmas  – Empire Theatre, Liverpool

Monique Young, Lorna Luft and Jessica Daley in White Christmas at the Liverpool Empire. Picture: Ellie Kurttz

Irving Berlin’s White Christmas continues at Liverpool Empire until 31st December.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Leicester Curve’s revival production of White Christmas, originally directed by Nikolai Foster, enjoyed a successful run at London’s Dominion theatre in 2019/20 and now it ends a four-venue UK tour with a four-week run at the Liverpool Empire.

We tend to think of the jukebox musical as a relatively modern invention, but Hollywood in the 1950s saw hits like Singin’ in the Rain and An American in Paris create shameless screen showcases for the popular music of the era, and White Christmas followed the format with the music of Irving Berlin.

The plot of the film, and this subsequent stage version, follows the fortunes of ex-army buddies Bob and Phil as they seek romance with sisters Betty and Judy Haynes, and set about staging a benefit show for their former General who has fallen on hard times. This storyline – spread even more thinly on stage than on screen – is little more than a vehicle for the music, but when the music is as beguiling as that of Berlin there’s nothing wrong with that.

This show is all about nostalgia, and revival director Ian Talbot and choreographer Stephen Mear have gone all-out to push the pace of the storytelling along so that it’s the song and dance numbers that really shine. Staging is simple yet stylish, with Michael Taylor’s set consisting largely of flown elements affording maximum space for the choreography to spread its wings. On the Empire’s massive stage that’s a lot of space indeed, but the 26-strong cast fill it with ease and grace, accompanied by one of the best pit bands I have heard in recent months, under music director Ben van Tienen.

Dan Burton plays the role of Phil Davis and Jay McGuiness that of Bob Wallace, which is clever casting, as they mirror the talents of Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby as consummate hoofer and crooner respectively. Jessica Daley and Monique Young are a fine pair of devoted sisters as Betty and Judy, and their duet ‘Sisters’ is possibly the first major showstopper in the production. Although his role is rather less prominent, Liverpool’s own Michael Starke receives a deservedly warm welcome as General Waverley.

The runaway star of this show however is the incomparable Lorna Luft, reprising the role of Martha which she played in the 2016 US tour. There’s a reason why some performers are considered theatre royalty and Luft’s charisma and stage presence are surely worth the ticket price alone. Her rendition of ‘Let Me Sing and I’m Happy’ unsurprisingly brings the house down.

The title song may well be ‘White Christmas’ (recycled from Holiday Inn), but it is the much sunnier ‘Blue Skies’ that seems to define this production. There is more snow outside on the pavement than there is on the stage here, and it’s the glow of wistful optimism that makes this revival a real winter warmer.

Nigel Smith