Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/author/dudleyvoigt/page/8/)
On the night of November 25th, 2014, I attended a showing of “White Christmas” at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. It was well before Christmas, and the city was already coated in white. Continue Reading
White Christmas is a feel-good, classic nineteen-fifties story, chalk full of corny jokes and familiar tropes, and uplifting songs that won’t stick in your head. I found myself able to clearly see the story’s path ahead, and unengaged. Continue Reading
Cheese sauce usually makes everything better, like nachos, broccoli and macaroni – and all Christmas movies have their fair share of cheese factor, but sometimes there comes a point where too much cheese can overwhelm everything. Having never seen the movie White Christmas, I was pretty open-minded about the musical. I thoroughly enjoyed the dancing, singing and costumes, and even the cliche storyline, but at times it was just too much. Continue Reading
Tuesday evening at the Orpheum theatre I saw Irving Berlin’s aptly named “White Christmas” expecting something drenched in cheese but entertaining all the same. I was right about the former, but was sadly disappointed in the latter. The show was mediocre at best and boring at worst. The story is of two World War Two veterans putting on a show in a hotel in 1954, told classic broadway-style with jazz hands and giant feather fans. There was nothing wrong with it, in terms of talent of the cast or the production design, but the problem lay in the show’s story and songs. The storyline was so tedious that I found myself yawning almost the whole way through, predictable enough to know the ending from the first act. Most of the songs had me nodding off in my seat. Continue Reading
In the spirit of holiday integrity, I try to disavow all Christmas frenzy before Thanksgiving. In a serious breach of my self discipline, I saw White Christmas in time to tell my family gathered Thanksgiving not to see it. In search for a metaphor, I compare White Christmas to reheated turkey: the glamor is gone and now you lovelessly consume it. Continue Reading
In a state where snow began it’s residency in early November, long before officially being winter, it seems as though many Minnesotans aren’t dreaming of a white Christmas just yet. As Irving Berlin’s White Christmas: The Musical takes the stage at the Orpheum, with opening night prior to thanksgiving and closing night sooner than the month of December, it has it’s work cut out to spread holiday cheer. Continue Reading
The music, orchestrated by Larry Blank, is played too precisely, driven by modern jazz sounds as opposed to those of Ragtime that influenced Berlin as he wrote the original score. Book writers David Ives and Paul Blake updated the script in that they took out many of the racist and sexist jokes that appeared in the original, including a minstrel number containing the song “I’d Rather See a Minstrel Show.” Continue Reading
Some movies cannot translate well to the stage. Dirty Dancing, at the Orpheum Theater until October 19, is one of them. The scenes were overly cheesy, and the transitions were choppy. While the dancing definitely was the focal point of the show, the singing and acting was subpar. When a movie is loved and touted by millions, the bar is set even higher. Unfortunately, this show did disappoint. Continue Reading
Dirty Dancing is a great movie. Its purpose is for sleepovers on Saturday nights with a couple of teenage friends who just want to zone out for a couple of hours and watch a cutesy story. And that purpose is served well. However, the musical version is a different story. Continue Reading
Dirty Dancing just recently opened at the Orpheum and I am sure you are all remembering giggly movie nights staring at Patrick Swayze and dreaming of dancing with him. I had not seen the movie going in and was excited to be presented with the story for the first time on the stage. I am sad to say that I was quite disappointed. The show was lacking in the acting department and the story only vaguely came across- a girl named Baby learning to dance while she is on vacation and, despite all their differences, falling in love with her instructor, Johnny. I got none of the depth, none of the touching moments, none of the emotion roller coaster I lovingly expect from cheesy stories such as this. Continue Reading