A final White Christmas at North Park Theatre

By Charlene Baldridge | Theater Review

San Diego Musical Theatre (SDMT) bids farewell to the North Park Theatre with its annual production of “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas,” playing through Dec. 21. Due to change in North Park Theatre ownership and operational goals, the 2015 season (“West Side Story,” “Singin’ in the Rain,” “La Cage Aux Folles,” and “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas”) will move to the Spreckels Theatre in Downtown San Diego.

7webtop — Karla Franko and company (Photo by Ken Jacques)

Based on Paramount Pictures’ classic 1954 film “White Christmas” (itself loosely based on a 1942 film titled “Holiday Inn”), the stage musical takes place between 1944 and 1954, during and just following WWII. Originated in 2004 in San Francisco, the stage musical has a book by David Ives and Paul Blake. Its glory and raison d’etre is the score, which features 17 Berlin tunes, including the title song, “Happy Holiday,” “Sisters,” “Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep,” “Blue Skies,” “I Love a Piano,” Love, You Didn’t Do Right by Me,” and “How Deep Is the Ocean.”

Produced by SDMT, “White Christmas” is directed by Todd Nielsen and features a splendid onstage band conducted by Don Le Master. The company of 29 singers/dancers includes a quartet of band singers. Two of four leads repeat their roles: Jeffrey Scott Parsons as Phil, and Todd DuBail as Bob, Allison Spratt Pearce, who sang Maria in SDMT’s recent “Sound of Music,” makes her role debut as Betty. Debuting as Betty’s sister, Judy, is Tro Shaw. Shaw and Parsons are a good team. So are Pearce and DuBail, both excellent vocally.

Todd DuBail and Jeffery Scott Parsons (Photo by Ken Jacques)

Bob and Phil were army buddies under the command of Gen. Henry Waverly (Ed Hollingsworth). After the war, they went straight to the top as a song and dance team. Bob is a kind of antisocial type and Phil an indefatigable ladies man. Hoping to change the status quo and bring a little love into Bob’s life, Phil arranges for them to catch the act of singing sisters Betty and Judy. Phil already has an eye for Judy, and despite himself, Bob falls in love with Betty. Phil and Bob are headed for a holiday rehearsals in Florida, but unknown to Bob, Phil arranges for the two of them to follow the femmes to Vermont, where the sisters are set to entertain at a ski lodge owned by Gen. Waverly, who was a much better general than he is lodge owner. There is no snow but romance ensues, with complications of course.

Karla J. Franko endears herself as Waverly’s hotel manager, Martha Watson. Ten-year old Claire Scheper once again portrays Martha’s scene-stealing niece. The entire company arrives from Florida and a show is planned in Waverly’s barn.

It’s a feel-good show, replete with tunes, singers, lots of big tap numbers (Lisa Hopkins’ choreography as restaged by Keenon Hooks), Janet Pitcher’s fetching costumes, Matthew Novotny’s lighting and un-credited sound design, which works well except when the stage curtain is closed. As always, Berlin’s infectious score trumps everything, taking the cake, er, Christmas tree. Truly, “White Christmas” is just the thing to put the whole family in the holiday spirit.

— Charlene Baldridge has been writing about the arts since 1979. Her book “San Diego, Jewel of the California Coast” (Northland Publishing) is currently available in bookstores. She can be reached at [email protected].