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Health & Fitness

Irving Berlin's White Christmas Begins Run This Week at the Westchester Broadway Theatre

White Christmas opens at the Westchester Broadway Theatre in Elmsford on Thursday, November 7, 2013 and runs through January 12, 2014.

In a rare reversal of Hollywood's usual way of bringing a hit Broadway musical to the big screen, White Christmas debuted as a movie first in 1954. It wasn't remade as a stage production until fifty years later. It toured coast-to-coast and overseas from 2004 to 2007 and opened on Broadway in 2008. 

Songwriter Irving Berlin never saw White Christmas performed in live theater. The show premiered on stage 15 years after he passed away and nearly 100 years after he wrote his first major success Alexander's Ragtime Band. (Berlin died in 1989 at the age of 101.)

In the plot, U.S. Army veterans Bob Wallace and Phil Davis are a successful song-and-dance act. With romance in mind, they follow two singing sisters to a Christmas show at a Vermont lodge, owned by General Waverly, Bob and Phil’s former army commander. 

The 1954 film cast included Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen and Dean Jagger.

The songs include White Christmas, Love and the Weather, I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm, Blue Skies, Sisters, How Deep is the Ocean, The Best Things Happen When You're Dancing, Snow, Mandy, Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep, Abraham, Gee I Wish I Was Back in the Army, What Can You Do With a General, Choreography, We'll Follow the Old Man, Love You Didn't Do Right by Me, Heat Wave, and Let Yourself Go.

Cast and crew

Bob Wallace is played by Sean Montgomery and Phil Davis appears as Jeremy Benton. The singing sisters are played by Kelly Sheehan and Lindsie Van Winkle.

Jamie Ross plays General Waverly. The cast also includes Karen Murphy as Martha, Seth Lerner as Ezekiel and Kasey Marino as Sheldrake, and Benjamin Dean as Mike. Nicole E. Kolitsas and Julia White alternate as Susan Waverly.
                       
The ensemble members are Avital Asuleen, Elish Conlon, Caley Crawford, Kurt Csolak, Alicia Hemann, Matthew J Kilgore, Janelle Neal, Jake Primmerman, Sean Quinn, Colleen Roberts, Angela Sauers, Daniel J. Self, Kelly Skidmore, Thomas Sutter and Caleb Teicher.

The show is directed and choreographed by Randy Skinner who previously directed the Westchester Broadway Theatre production of 42nd Street. The crew also includes Associate Choreographer Mary Giattino, Assistant Choreographer Matthew J Kilgore, Production Stage Manager Victor Lukas, Assistant Stage Manager Amanda Stuart, Associate Producer Lisa Tiso, Set Designer Steve Loftus, Costume Designery Derek Lockwood, Lighting Designer Andrew Gmoser, Sound Designer Jon Hatton, and Hair/Wig Designer Gerard Kelly. Properties are provided by Frumpy's Props. 

Show times

  • Wednesday, Thursday and Friday matinees. Lunch at 11:30 a.m. Show starts at 1 p.m. 
  • Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings. Dinner at 6:30 p.m. Show starts at 8 p.m.
  • Sunday matinees. Lunch at noon. Show starts at 1:30 p.m.
  • Sunday evenings. Dinner at 5:30 p.m. Show starts at 7 p.m.
All performances include lunch or dinner.

Ticket prices include lunch or dinner and range from $54 to $80 per person plus tax, depending on the day and the time chosen. Beverages and gratuities are not included in the ticket price. For reservations, call 914-592-2222.

Reservations can also be made at www.BroadwayTheatre.com. For group reservations, call 592-2225. For luxury box reservations, call 592-8730. Discounts are available for children, students, and senior citizens at selected performances.

Westchester Broadway Theatre, 1 Broadway Plaza (175 Clearbrook Road), Elmsford. Box office: (914) 592-2222.
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