The cast of White Christmas at Curve, Leicester. Picture: Catherine Ashmore
White Christmas continues at Curve Leicester until 13 January 2019.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
A year after Scrooge, artistic director of Curve, Nikolai Foster, is treating Leicester audiences to much lighter fare with a brand new staging of White Christmas, the famous holiday movie favourite put on the musical theatre map over ten years ago.
Foster had already directed the Irving Berlin jukebox musical with Darren Day in the lead at West Yorkshire Playhouse. Choreographing this time is Stephen Mear, bringing his personal yet Fosse-inspired touch to the big Act I closer ‘Blue Skies’, marvellously arranged by Larry Blank, whose original orchestrations make all the immortal Berlin classics sound so fresh. The large dance ensemble is impressive and executes the big numbers like ‘I Love a Piano’ with clockwise precision.
The four leads are as close to dream casting as you can get. Danny Mac seems to improve vocally with each show and recent roles have also developed his acting skills. As for Dan Burton, his work in Top Hat at Kilworth House and Singin’ in the Rain at the Châtelet in Paris has helped him become the perfect song and dance man, fitting like a glove into the part played by Danny Kaye in the movie.
Monique Young, also seen in Châtelet’s 42nd Street as well as Singin’ in the Rain, and the great Emma Williams, fresh from An Officer and a Gentleman also at Curve, are the perfect sisters, delivering exquisite close harmonies with style in their first duet and possessing obvious chemistry with their leading men.
The real show-stopper, however, is Wendy Mae Brown with her rendition of ‘Let Me Sing and I’m Happy’, showing great comic ability as Martha.
Michael Taylor’s sets, filled with neon lights may be more evocative of the Paramount golden age than of a Christmas musical. The glitzy finale costumes may not all be gorgeous. And of course, the storyline is still paper-thin, even if it has the merit of weaving all the Berlin standards together very well.
But what this production lacks in festive quality, it surely makes up in sheer energy and joy. From the brassy overture to a scene from the Second World War, to the buckets of fake snow showered on the audience at the climax of the show, the production and entertainment values are indeed high and make this show well worth the trip to Leicester.
Patrick Honoré
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