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‘White Christmas’ hits a snag, check back Thursday for review
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Theater of the Stars’ “White Christmas” has gotten off to a bumpy start.
According to press agent Karen Hatchett, the set had a rough ride from its previous engagement in Savannah. When the trucks arrived at the Fox Theatre on Monday morning, the crew “realized that there are one or two pieces of the set that are damaged,” Hatchett reported.
The scenery is being repaired, but may not be ready in time for Tuesday night’s first performance.
Theater of the Stars has requested that reviewers wait until Wednesday night to see this all-new production based on 1954 film featuring the music of Irving Berlin. The show is directed by Jeff Calhoun, who staged last week’s “Disney’s High School Musical: The Ice Tour” at Philips Arena and also directed Theater of the Stars’ world premiere production of “High School Musical” at the Fox earlier this year.
The AJC review of “White Christmas” will be posted online Thursday and run in Friday’s papers.
Comments
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By Jeffrey
November 7, 2007 9:10 AM | Link to this
I’ll give an inital review. While the staging and dancing were generally well done, it seemed the whole enterprise was too sterile….no soul. This may be a issue of perception, but it seemed the crowd at opening night were polite, not enthusiastic, with their applause. I suppose it seemed too “packaged” for my taste, given that it was a live performance.
By Cindy
November 7, 2007 12:20 PM | Link to this
The sound was not good on Tuesday night. If I had not seen the movie dozens of times, I would not have been able to follow simply because I couldn’t hear what was being said. Many times the orchestra was so loud, you couldn’t hear what was being sung. The story strayed a bit from the movie, but guess that was to be expected. Overall, I was disappointed.
By Ryan
November 7, 2007 1:13 PM | Link to this
The play deserves a thumbs down. with or without the damaged set, this play is a lack luster interpretation that would be better played by a high school cast. The songs lacked warmth and the actors mine as well have been puppets (or robots). The changing of the scenes in front of the audience was disruptive and nauseating, and the dual (triple) roles of some of the cast was dissapointing. A hair change might have been a little more imaginative, but to see a chorus girl on a set as a patron at a night club, on a train, and as part of the act was a bit mutch. This must be a low budget production.
By Tim
November 7, 2007 2:30 PM | Link to this
First of all, is this not a lame concept? It is a commercial and not an artistic endeavor.
Why review a review show?
Second, is it newsworthy that the show isn’t ready? Wendell, I am sure there are good shows out there that need reviewed and don’t make the AJC cut. It is a shame you wasted the space on such a lame article. You should be ashamed. Get to work with real theatre!
By Cathy
November 8, 2007 1:14 PM | Link to this
The show was wonderful. The tap number for I Love A Piano was over the top. The costumes were to perfection and period. Colors were brilliant and the Holiday Red gowns for the finale were breathtaking. One actress in particular, Karen Murphy who plays Martha Watson Who sang, “Let me sing and I’m Happy” was the clearest voice in the show, not to mention reminiscent of Ethel Merman. Truly a wonderful voice and just a joy to hear. The songs are still great to hear and the cast , playing multiple parts did not take away from the performance and they were very good. The only annoying part of the play from my perspective was the annoying bell that represented every scene change. We could have figured out the scene change on our own.
By Barb
November 9, 2007 6:59 AM | Link to this
Overall, thumbs up. Attended Thursday night’s performance and found it enjoyable. Overall, the cast, sets and costumes did not disappoint. The two exceptions were: the “Love you done me wrong” number - the actress did not have the voice for the number and “the annoying bell that represented every scene change” (at least tone is down.) BL: Most will not be disappointed at this holiday feel- good production.