The Players Theatre Company's 'White Christmas Musical': It'll Help You Find the Holiday Spirit

CONROE, TX -- As ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,’ is celebrating its 60th year on television, it’s more than fitting that Conroe gets an offering of a beloved holiday musical from The Players Theatre Company, ‘White Christmas,’ based on Irving Berlin’s 1954 musical film of the same, which is celebrating its 70th Anniversary. It’s an excellent chance to get reacquainted with the Owen Theatre if you haven’t been in a while, and remember your own thoughts of Christmases past, thinking of those who have now passed on; or those living for the future, with the promise of new acquaintances of family and friends. White Christmas is born of a time, seemingly more innocent than today, where things magically work themselves out, and love winds up in the right spots, with the right people for which it is intended. Even if you wind up at the theatre in a foul mood, White Christmas is sure to have a smile on your face on the way home. WC is a reason why people fall in love with musical theatre, for some aspect of the show will fill you with some holiday spirit, where you find that joy that you’d been missing, and rekindling a love for our community theatre and the beautiful art it brings each holiday season.

Some may remember the 1950’s classic film of White Christmas with the great Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen. In fact, a good number of you may have grown up with its required yearly viewing, yielding that Christmas closeness that we all desire when our families gather together. Of course with the stage version there are a few plot snips here and there to make it palatable for the community stage, but the same gist of the story is still there.

You still have Bob Wallace (Mark Doreza), Phil Davis (Colton Land), Betty Haynes (Ashley Pribble) and Judy Haynes (Sunnie Curda), on that supposed trip to Florida which took a 180 to Vermont, a state that has no snow at Christmas time. Talk about Global Warming in the ‘50’s … who knew? With Wallace determined to head back down south, he finds that his innkeeper is his old Commanding General, Henry Waverly (Scott Allison), from his war service in Italy during the last WW. And with a winter resort without snow, the General, unbeknownst to him, is in a pickle with debt. Then magic happens.

The Players Theater presentation of White Christmas directed by Travis Bryant, beautifully brings the film to life, and sparks memories of our best holidays spent with family and friends. The colors are vibrant, the costumes are representative of the era, and the backgrounds are electronic, saving the time on setup. The whole production team did a wonderful job, and it’s fun to see the backstage happenings of a production on stage, letting us see the sausage making if you will, that adds to the excitement and wonderment of Christmas.

The audience enjoyed the blocking and movement scenes in the dressing rooms to further the strengthening love between Bob and Betty. The rail car scene was entertaining with the misdirection, and the elaborate Regency scene with ill-willed Betty singing ‘Love, You Didn’t Do Right By Me,’ and despite the threat of the loss of their love, you’re accepting of it. For the time being.

One thing with a show like White Christmas is the amazing speed it moves. It’s seventy-years old and moves at breakneck speed. Imagine a show that is planned and executed in a short time, which is a hard task even for modern times, and with the modes of travel and lack of infrastructure back then, it seems an impossible task, but through stage magic it all comes complete. It goes big, and turn your head and you’ve missed something.

The casting of Mark Doreza as Bob Wallace, and Ashley Pribble as Betty Haynes was perfect. Their performances in ‘The SpongeBob Musical,’ with Doreza as Plankton, and Pribble as Pearl Krabs, impressed many, and they certainly didn’t disappoint in White Christmas. Compared to their SBM singing parts, the couple's White Christmas songcraft was a veritable cakewalk, which allowed them to relax and enjoy the characters even more. Doreza’s performance in charge of the chorus of ‘Blue Skies’ brought the first act to a close and was very memorable. The character of Wallace is not that cakewalkish as mentioned previously, as he falls in love, only to be rejected over a misunderstanding, all in the midst of lightspeed preparations for a show that must go on. Besides Betty, Wallace has to deal with the antics of Phil, played by Colton Land, who has fallen for Judy Haynes, played by Sunnie Curda, and the two sing and dance their way to bringing Bob and Betty together.

Land and Curda really performed well together, and truly made their arguments. In ‘The Best Things Happen When You’re Dancing’ as well as ‘I Love a Piano,’ their movements were worthy of the praise they received, and not to mention the practice they put in preparation for the show. Curda’s Judy it appears she was born for the role, and is the unsung hero in the success of WC. The dancing was good at all levels, and the ensemble dancers were no slouch in that department.

Betty, of course, is the more serious sister, while Wallace is the more serious partner in the act with Davis. Their busy lives have no room for romance, but as with stress against a wall, they lower the guards to come to the realization of the romance they’ve been missing. They could have communicated better, which would have negated Betty leaving Vermont for NYC, and the additional stress causes conflict, and more travel, but it worked itself out. Curda and Pribble were great in ‘Sisters,’ and they teamed up with Laura Brown in ‘Falling Out of Love Can Be Fun.’ Brown played Martha Watson, the receptionist. Her character is not in the original film, but is kinda represented by the original housekeeper Emma at the Columbia Inn. We come to find that Watson is a hidden stage jem, and she really impressed the audience with her beautiful voice and moves. General Henry Waverly, played by Scott Allison, and his granddaughter Susan Waverly, portrayed by Hallie Majors, were excellent in their performances. Henry of course is frustrated with lodge life and the stressors it entails, which is far less exciting than commanding men in the Army. And Susan, just itching to belt out something, finally gets her chance in the reprise of ‘Let Me Sing and I’m Happy,’ late in the game. Wow!

Everyone appreciated the ensemble which added a mark of professionalism to the singing and dancing of the production, and in ‘Snow’ like in Blue Skies, and truly everything, all marks were hit, with nothing seemingly out of place. Blake Patton, who played the Conductor and Ezekiel, garnered his fair share of attention for his two roles, which tugged at the audience’s heartstrings. Henry de la Garza, who portrayed Ralph Sheldrake, was instrumental in keeping the story moving. He is in his first production with The Players, so kudos and welcome to him.

The Players Theatre Company production of White Christmas is a real hit. They’ve added several additional shows for their closing weekend. Some would even say that it’s growing faster than The Universe, well, just barely. But let it be known that you have a dedicated group of performers with this group. So come and catch White Christmas. It’s a wonder that will make your Holiday this year even more memorable.

White Christmas runs onstage at The Owen Theatre in Conroe through December 22nd. For more information and tickets, visit: playerstheatrecompany.com or 936-539-4090 for tickets.

The next show at The Players Theatre Company will be Alan Aychbourn’s ‘Bedroom Farce,’ which runs from January 24 - February 9th, 2025, followed by ‘Tuck Everlasting’ which runs from March 14th -30th, 2025.

Ruben can be reached at: ruben@montgomerycountynews.net

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