White Christmas - Curve/Dominion/Tour

TodayTix Rush was very easy this morning, row P stalls for £25. I saw the tour when we had it in Sunderland back in 2010 (Christmas Eve outing). Looking forward to seeing it with this cast, don't remember too much about it.

Saw it last night -- it's pretty ho-hum material that refuses in any way to fully ignite (it's no 42nd Street, that's for sure) but the cast rescue it from terminal blandness, and it is nice to See Clare Halse tapping away once again. Michael Brandon tries to sing, which gets a laugh all its own, and the "snow" is full and wet when it comes pouring down at the end. Bring a hat!

I saw this yesterday too, and have to agree that the cast far outshines the material (with the exception of Michael Brandon, who is very wooden). The only bits I found vaguely emotional were the parts when they were soldiers, although I'm not sure how much of that was remembering the film. The child character is a real annoyance; I guess she has to be there to overhear things and move the plot along, but she really doesn't have to sing. First number I'd cut!
However, if you can live without emotional resonance, it's very enjoyable overall. It's pretty, and the choreography is good. As mentioned above, the main leads are excellent and have just the right amount of old-fashioned hollywood charm. It was a joy to see Clare Halse tapping again. Brenda Edwards seemed to make much more of the part of Martha Watson than I've seen before, loved her.
A real step up from any versions I've seen before, and I enjoyed it very much.
Today Tix rush provided a decent stalls seat, although not far forward enough to be snowed upon. If anyone is leaving it until nearer Christmas, thinking it would feel odd now, I would point out that it's not that Christmassy until the very end. The people behind me were disappointed how un-festive it was.

Holiday Inn

Saw this last night - completely agree with others that it's barely Christmassy at all aside from the title song and the last 5 minutes, so don't let that put you off. It's very slick, well paced, gorgeous costumes, lovely choregraphy and 5 impeccable leads who all give faultless performances. They were all note-perfect and the whole thing was just classically charming. Plus, you know, Danny Mac in army uniform, Danny Mac in a tux, and Danny Mac in a vest 😀

Could someone do me a favour and look at their programme to see what the size of the band is? I'm intrigued if it's bigger than at Curve.

I didn't buy a programme. Sorry. The band didn't sound big. They also sounded quite modern, electric bass and keyboards. Didn't have the classicsl Berlin sound I was expecting

I saw this yesterday Y3 with the TodayTix rush. Excellent value - it’s quite far away but good legroom and rake. The stalls looked about 90% full. The tube noise is a bit distracting. And the audience- picture taking in the middle of songs, popcorn eating - and that was just in front of and next to me.

Strong production of weak material- great singing and the chorus was energetic and synchronised. The book hasn’t met a cliche it didn’t want to include. It drags on a bit in places. But I did love the ending with the snow - a good dose of (pre)holiday cheer.

Interestingly I preferred Hope, I thought she was flawless. Halse verged a little towards the nasal side for me, although her dancing was expectedly outstanding 😀

Made a return visit last night, although in a much cheaper seat thanks to TodayTix rush. This does seem to be selling very well. The Stalls were very full and there were people upstairs, although I couldn't see how many. There were also long queues to pick up tickets so I didn't have much time to spare when I made it to my seat.

The Rush ticket was off to the side of Stalls Row Z. Much further back than I'd like, but there was a clear view of the stage and it was interesting to see the big numbers from that distance. The sound is clear there also.

Not much to add really to my previous comments. All of the leads were on (don't know if they've missed any shows yet) and Michael Brandon has improved since first time around. Brenda Edwards still steals the show. The same young girl was on as Susan as last time and she was particularly confident.

I won't get back this year, but hopefully this production will run again somewhere next year. I would say the Dominion would be perfect to host this every year, but they have a big budget show coming in which I'm sure they will be hoping lasts beyond December 2020.

Clare Halse and Dan Burton tapping, Brenda Edwards belting, and Danielle Hope and Danny Mac hate-flirting: these are a few of my favourite things, but the story is one the least gripping I have ever experienced. Best seen as a variety show!

Some spoilers follow. . .

Never ever begin with World War 2 if you intend to ignore it! The opening that speaks to the end of a war, that saw some 80 million people die, suggested to me that the musical would in some way be about getting over the war, that someone somewhere would carry some war trauma that the story would deal with in some way. It doesn't, at all, and that makes the crap about a winter hotel that's too sunny, about petty assumptions about mistaken motivations and whatnot, all feel mind-numbingly insignificant. It's not simply that nothing here has any dramatic bite, but that by raising the issue of the war, the lack of dramatic bite feels crass.

Anyway, once I got over the fact that I'd better ignore the whole story, I did find ONE, just one, aspect of the plot that had some dramatic traction, and that is the comedic hate-flirting going on between Danielle Hope and Danny Mac. Those two are really charming, with Mac being the more sulky, and Hope being the more chippy, and between the two of them, their romance is actually completely winning. Mac is a great Buble-style crooner, with a tad more machismo, and a terrific dancer, and he has the acting chops to launch into his swooning and crooning from a brooding sulking place that makes it all seem doubly charming. Couple that with the way Hope drops the chip on her shoulder, when Mac isn't looking, to swell with beaming admiration, and you get a totally winning acting-singing-dancing triple threat romance.

Unfortunately, the story too often is concerned with other trivial nonsense (the hotel, the sun, the contracts, the general's finances, the squawking lady fan girls), and if you think about it any of it one second, you'll feel embarrassed to allow that story into your brain.

Luckily, the sight and sounds of Clare Halse and Dan Burton tap dancing in an approximately 16 person ensemble to "I Love a Piano" (my absolute highlight of the show, despite their threadbare "characters"), the sound of Brenda Edwards belting "Let Me Sing And I’m Happy," the sheer smooth grace of the ensemble and Danny Mac's "Blue Skies," was enough to sufficiently crush my cerebrum for at least two thirds of the running time.

Ultimately, this is one of the worst stories I've seen on stage, told exuberantly and exceptionally! Have several drinks if you see this, to suppress the part of your brain that thinks.

3 stars.