Irving Berlin’s White Christmas

Irving Berlin’s White Cristmas CD features songwriter Berlin’s classic “Blue Skies,” “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” “Sisters,” “I Love a Piano” and the famed title tune, among many other songs. The disc represents the only version of the White Christmas score currently in stores. The recording features Broadway’s Anastasia Barzee as Betty Haynes, Tony Award-nominee Brian d’Arcy James as Bob Wallace, Jeffry Denman as Phil Davis, Karen Morrow as Martha Watson and Meredith Patterson as Judy Haynes. The album is produced for records by Joel Moss, conducted by Rob Berman and executive produced by Ted Chapin, Kevin McCollum and Kurt Deutsch. The Irving Berlin’s White Christmas: The stage production of the beloved 1954 film made its debut in 2004 in San Francisco, winning solid reviews and encouraging subsequent holiday-time commercial sitdowns in Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco in 2005.A bright splash of holiday cheer, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas is a stage version of the classic 1954 Bing Crosby film. The plot is basically the same: two GIs (Brian D’Arcy James and Jeffry Denman in the Bing and Danny Kaye roles) become a song-and-dance team after World War II, run into a couple of dames (Anastasia Barzee and Meredith Patterson in the Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen roles), then head up to Vermont with the girls to put on a show in a barn to save the inn run by their former commanding officer. The familiar songs are borrowed from the show (“Sisters,” “Snow,” “Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep,” the title tune), augmented by other Berlin hits (“I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” “I Love a Piano,” “Let Yourself Go”) and snappily orchestrated in period style by Larry Blank. The four principals are the ones who debuted the show in San Francisco in 2004, plus Karen Morrow as Martha Watson. Irving Berlin’s White Christmas is already becoming a favorite for major repertory companies to perform during the holiday season. –David Horiuchi