White Christmas
Now through December 31st
The Cast
A Note from the Director
Behind the Scenes
Photo Album in Living Color
Purchase Tickets Here
Read a Review by Jeri Seely, The Paper
Photo Album
The odds of a white Christmas in Indianapolis and Chicago are just 30%, 0% in San Francisco, California, and 100% in Marquette, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Some of the least-likely white Christmases include the 2004 Christmas Eve Snowstorm, which brought the first white Christmas to New Orleans in half a century, and the first ever to Houston, Texas. Yet Irving Berlin’s song, “White Christmas” is the most universally popular Christmas song in history and has no boundaries. The morning after he wrote the song — Berlin usually stayed up all night writing — the songwriter went to his office and told his musical secretary, "Grab your pen and take down this song. I just wrote the best song I've ever written — hell, I just wrote the best song that anybody's ever written!" He was right. Bing Crosby's version of "White Christmas" sold more than one hundred million copies. It has been recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1944, ‘47 and ‘54, Louis Armstrong in 1952, Elvis in 1957, Perry Como in 1959, Ella Fitzgerld in 1960, The Beach Boys in 1964, Wolfgang Petry in 2004, and Girls Aloud in 2005, and the end is nowhere in sight.
The song "White Christmas" was introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1942 musical Holiday Inn. It went on to receive the Academy Award for Best Song. It has often been noted that the mix of melancholy — "just like the ones I used to know" — with comforting images of home — "where the treetops glisten" — resonated especially strongly with listeners during World War II. In 1942 alone, the single spent eleven weeks on top of the charts; it returned to the #1 spot again in 1945 and 1947. The song was also the title theme for the 1954 musical White Christmas, starring Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen, became the biggest-grossing film of that year.
Now along comes a new musical based on the movie that is bringing buzz that it will take a perennial place with A Christmas Carol and The Nutcracker as a holiday tradition.
It is under license to R&H Theatricals, the music and show business arm of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, who produced Berlin’s classic, Annie Get Your Gun.
The stage production’s original director Walter Bobbie observes of today’s pop culture, "Everybody is so hip and so cool and so glib and so flippant." White Christmas, a warmhearted chestnut offering such catchy Berlin tunes as "Count Your Blessings," "How Deep Is the Ocean," "Blue Skies" and "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm," couldn't be more alien to the sensibilities of "Chicago," MTV and the put-down humor of TV sitcoms.” The show is indeed a reminder of the power of music paired with story.
"Thanks to the entire
cast & crew of White Christmas!!!! My family and I attended
the Saturday evening performance and it was marvelous. Great
staging, musical arrangements and choreography. The entire
cast performed with skill and energy. Our thanks to Dick
Pletcher, executive producer, and Jeremy Littlejohn, director, for this
fine production."
The Baker Family
West Lafayette, IN
The Cast
| Bob Wallace | Joe Ford |
| Phil Davis | Brance Cornelius |
| Ralph Sheldrake | Ross Hannon |
| Clem Rogers | Daniel Steven Baker |
| General Henry Waverly | Brian Kaisen |
| TV Announcer | Jonathan Wilson |
| Rita | Vanessa Altshuler |
| Rhoda | Jessica Chesbro |
| Tessie | Amber Bontrager |
| Betty Haynes | Amber Burgess |
| Judy Haynes | Stephanie Long |
| Jimmy | Ross Hannon |
| Conductor | Jonathan Wilson |
| Mr. Snoring Man | Daniel Steven Baker |
| Mrs. Snoring Man | Amber Bontrager |
| Martha Watson | Donna Schulte |
| Susan Waverly | Emma Jane Hostetler |
| Ezekiel Foster | Jonathan Wilson |
| Mike | Ross Hannon |
| Seamstress | Amber Bontrager |
A Note from the Director…
I’ve never been a huge fan of snow, but I am a huge fan of this show! As long as I can remember White Christmas has been an important part of my family’s holiday season. It has always been my mother’s favorite holiday movie and it isn’t hard to see why. The film vastly improved upon the technical aspects of what is essentially the same story as its predecessor Holiday Inn. It was the first movie to be filmed using the Vista Vision process and it was the Technicolor that made all the difference. After all, it is much easier to capture the feeling of the holidays in color! Not only did this movie brave new trails in film making but it also killed at the box office becoming the number one grossing film of 1954. The irony of all this is that the film doesn’t contain one inch of snow until the last scene...my kind of Christmas! This is one of the reasons that I believe I am the perfect director for this piece.
It wasn’t difficult to see from the beginning that this beloved story has everything you could possibly need to make a great show! This is one of the reasons why I wanted our production to be intimate. With past productions using over the top production numbers, costumes and cast members, the charm and humanity of the story is easily lost. We’ve assembled a dynamite cast for you and I can’t help but to take pleasure in being able to put the icing on top of the cake that is this season personally. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who worked on our productions during this season...It was all of you that helped me to brave some new trails of our own. Special thanks to you, our patrons for being willing to go down some paths which were a little more windy than usual. I think we all learned a lot about the potential of The Round Barn Theatre this year. It makes me giddy for next season!!!
This show is dedicated to my mother who ingrained the meaning of “true holiday spirit” into me from a very young age...and while I still don’t like snow, I can’t help but say: “May all your Christmas’s be white!”
Jeremy Littlejohn
Behind the Scenes
Executive Producer: Richard Pletcher
Director: Jeremy Littlejohn
Choreographer: Stephanie Long
Musical Director: Martin Fox
Rope Trick Consultant: John Jay Shoup
Production Stage Manager: Regina Warren
Asst. Stage Manager/ Props Master: Sam Brown
Company Manager: Matthew C. Scott
Set Designer: Richard Pletcher
Costume Designer: Scott Saegesser
Asst. Costume Designer: Amber Burgess
Lighting Designer: David Castaneda
Sound Designer: Paul Dodds
Master Carpenter: Alvin Yoder
Scenic Artist: Jeff Stillson
Box Office Manager: Jennifer Scheffer
Marketing: The Village Group, LLC
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