White Christmas

Last week I went with Marion to see White Christmas at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. Now I have never been a great fan of musicals particularly those based on what I thought of as schmaltzy films. I was very surprised to come out of the theatre having enjoyed a great evening and having a great Christmassy warm fell good feeling. First of all this was a great production, full of pazzaz, and with some great songs, the eponymous White Christmas but also Blue Skies and Sisters. The actors performed with a zest and hit just the right note for the Christmas season. The production and stage design successfully conveyed the glamour of Broadway on an obviously more limited budget. All in all it was a great production. If you are near the West Yorkshire Playhouse make the time to go and see it.

Secondly it is one of the pleasures of a long marriage that my wife has opened my eyes to things outside of my comfort zone. Marion has long had a love for the classic musicals of the forties and fifties, and to be honest out of complete ignorance I would not have even considered them. Marion plays the long game and the results were shown in my enjoyment of White Christmas. It is also a great life lesson; do not reject things out of hand through prejudice or ignorance.

As an aside the original starred Bing Crosby who we always think of in tandem with Bob Hope. They had a great partnership, however I have just read an article saying that they could not stand each other. Apparently on hearing that Big Crosby had died, Hope said, “He was a mean son of a bitch”. It just shows that you do not need to be friends to successfully work with someone, indeed in this case just the opposite. Incidentally Bob Hope donated his whole joke catalogue to the Library of Congress, not one of which he wrote himself. I think the lesson here is obvious.

Well I have looked at the Christmas TV schedules, and surprise surprise White Christmas is being shown. I am looking forward to sitting back on the settee with a large ice-cold vodka martini (appropriate I think), some olives, to watch the original. I know that Marion will be singing along. I urge you to join me.