White Christmas Based Upon the Paramount Pictures Film
Written For the Screen by Norman Krasna, Norman Panama and Melvin Frank Music and Lyrics byIrving Berlin Book byDavid Ives, Paul Blake
SynopsisFor More Information
WHITE CHRISTMAS, the timeless holiday favorite, debuts in a new Anniversary Edition DVD November 3, 2009. Get your copy today!
Show History
Show History
Awards 1942 Academy Awards
Award for Best Original Song: "White Christmas"
Articles & Interviews
10/1/2006 Volume 13, Issue 2, Fall CHRISTMAS IN ANY SEASON WHITE CHRISTMAS ""makes for great family fun, even when Christmas is half a year away,"" reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in July. more...
1/1/2005 Volume 12, Issue 2, Winter "SCORING IRVING BERLINS ""NEWEST"" MUSICAL" In his day job, Bruce Pomahac is the resolute and cheerful Director of Music for The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization. more...
1/1/2005 Volume 12, Issue 2, Winter "WEATHER REPORT: WHITE CHRISTMAS AS ""ENCHANTING AS A FIRST SNOW""" It snowed on Christmas in San Francisco this year. more...
9/8/2008 WHITE CHRISTMAS on Broadway! IRVING BERLIN’S WHITE CHRISTMAS, a new stage adaptation of the beloved classic film, is now playing at the Marquis Theatre on Broadway this holiday season. Read more... more...
8/5/2008 IRVING BERLIN'S WHITE CHRISTMAS Arrives on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre Following acclaimed engagements from San Francisco to Boston, IRVING BERLIN’S WHITE CHRISTMAS, a new stage adaptation of the beloved classic film, will arrive at the Marquis Theatre on Broadway this holiday season—guaranteeing that New York will have a white Christmas! more...
9/3/2008 WHITE CHRISTMAS on Broadway Announces Leading Cast Members The upcoming Broadway production of IRVING BERLIN’S WHITE CHRISTMAS is pleased to announce that Stephen Bogardus, Kerry O’Malley, Jeffry Denman, Meredith Patterson, Charles Dean and Susan Mansur will lead a cast of 33 in the highly anticipated holiday engagement. more...
1/12/2009 This Winter, Broadway Was Dreaming of a "WHITE CHRISTMAS" Global warming may have brought mild temperatures and rain to New York City on Christmas Day, but for nearly seven glorious weeks, the forecast was for snow every night (and twice on matinee days) inside the Marquis Theater. more...
1/26/2009 WHITE CHRISTMAS Songbook Get your copy of the new WHITE CHRISTMAS Songbook from Hal Leonard today! more...
5/26/2009 Dreaming of a “WHITE CHRISTMAS”? Dream no longer! R&H Theatricals is thrilled to announce that beginning immediately—amateur performance rights are available to Irving Berlin's WHITE CHRISTMAS. more...
10/26/2009 WHITE CHRISTMAS on DVD The timeless holiday favorite debuts in a new Anniversary Edition DVD November 3, 2009. Get your copy now! more...
Articles & Interviews
Critic Quotes “WHITE CHRISTMAS is enchanting as a first snow…Audiences drank it up like spiked egg nog.”
San Francisco Examiner
"The Berlin songs are sweet to hear. ‘How Deep Is the Ocean’ is sublime. ‘I Love a Piano’ is a buoyant number":
Charles Isherwood, The New York Times
“WHITE CHRISTMAS is a shiny package most audiences will be happy to unwrap…packed with brightly staged, well-chosen Irving Berlin numbers.”
Contra Costa Times
"most audiences will be sufficiently high on holiday spirit to sing along"
David Rooney, Variety
"WHITE CHRISTMAS has 'hit' stamped all over it...There just aren't enough superlatives for this irresistible show."
Evening Herald
"With memorable songs such as "White Christmas", "Count Your Blessings", and "Sisters" if you go along to WHITE CHRISTMAS, you'll be sure to have a Happy Holiday."
Dawn Ellis, Plymoth
"It’s been ballyhooed across all media, from billboards to TV. It should be ballyhooed a little more. WHITE CHRISTMAS merits the hype. A big, boffo Broadway musical with a gorgeous score that seemingly flows from music director Steven Freeman’s supple baton, the show left me twinkling like a Christmas tree."
Rohan Preston, Star Tribune
"WHITE CHRISTMAS is a holiday hit on both coasts... but it is great family fun even when Christmas is half a year away. Thank goodness we aren't too dainty to savor treats out of season."
Judith Newmark
"An irresistible story, based on one of the best Christmas movies ever"
Jacques le Sourd, The Journal News
"If you’re hankering for a fix from the fifties, WHITE CHRISTMAS is the perfect gift"
Roma Torre, NY1
“Bruce Pomahac, the in-house music man for the Rodgers, Hammerstein, and Berlin estates, provides an unfailingly bright set of dance and vocal arrangements. This is a traditional Broadway musical with a good old-fashioned Broadway sound... Everything sounds warm, friendly and wonderful in an All-American Irving Berlin-kind of way...The cast album of WHITE CHRISTMAS gives you songs you can hum, all right, and numbers you'll want to hear repeatedly."
Playbill.com
"You'll go home happy A sure-fire seasonal musical. I don’t see how anyone who loves Broadway musicals can fail to be pleased by so polished and ingenious a show. The songs are out of Berlin’s top drawer"
Terry Teachout, The Wall Street Journal
“Step Aside, CHRISTMAS CAROL. Twirl back, NUTCRACKER. There’s a new kid on the seasonal entertainment block, and it’s star is Irving Berlin.”
Oakland Tribune
"The most professional and crowd-pleasing show as far as holiday entertainment goes"
AM New York
"A jolly live extravaganza that only Scrooges can resist"
New York Magazine
"WHITE CHRISTMAS is just about the most perfect present you could have...it is quite simply one of the best musicals I've ever seen."
Western Morning News
White Christmas
Label: Sh-k-boom
Release date: January 1, 2006
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Cast Requirements
Set Requirements
Rental Materials
Rehearsal Set (22 Books, 1 Logo CD)
20 Libretto-Vocal Book
1 Logo CD
2 PIANO CONDUCTOR SCORE
Orchestration (23 Books)
1 PIANO CONDUCTOR SCORE
1 REED I (Flute, Piccolo, Clarinet, Alto Saxophone (Lead Flute))
1 REED II (Flute, Clarinet, Alto Saxophone (Lead Clarinet))
1 REED III (Oboe, English Horn, Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone)
1 REED IV (Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone)
1 Reed V (Bassoon, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Baritone Saxophone)
1 Horn
1 TRUMPET I
1 TRUMPET II
1 TRUMPET III
1 TROMBONE I (Tenor Trombone)
1 TROMBONE II (Tenor Trombone)
1 TROMBONE III (Bass Trombone)
1 DRUMS (Traps, Mark Tree, Triangle)
2 PERCUSSION (see list below)
1 KEYBOARD I (Piano, Synth) (see list below)
1 KEYBOARD II (Synth) (see list below)
3 VIOLINS (Divisi)
1 CELLO (Divisi)
1 BASS
Production Notes
Writer's NotesBruce Pomahac,
"Songs are exclamation points in a musical like WHITE CHRISTMAS. When you get to a number it has to deliver the goods. For sheer entertainment, no one does this better than Irving Berlin did. Often the challenge was not what song we were going to find, but which of several would be the best choice. [Co- librettist] Paul Blake and later, [co- librettist] David Ives and [director] Walter Bobbie did the choosing, and did it brilliantly, I think. Then it became the job of the music team to make sure the songs fit seamlessly into the cloth of the story and the production."
Walter Bobbie,
At the first day of rehearsal for WHITE CHRISTMAS in October 2004, director Walter Bobbie (Tony winner for CHICAGO) marvelled: “Kevin and Jeffrey are producing WHITE CHRISTMAS in a way that big musicals don’t happen any more. They called me and said, ‘We’ve got a sensational score by Irving Berlin, and we’ve already booked a theater. Let’s put on a show!’ No workshop, no years of development. They weren’t producing a reading; they were actually producing a show! As scary as that prospect seems,” Bobbie concluded, “I found it liberating. And their commitment gave the entire creative team an extraordinary focus.”
Performance ToolsAccompanEase AccompanEase is now available for WHITE CHRISTMAS. This new product is a rehearsal tool that allows for unlimited teaching, training and practice of individual vocal parts or dance sequences. Contact Realtime Music Solutions for more information: www.accompanease.com, via email: info@rms.biz, or via phone: 212-620-0774.
InstrumentalEase InstrumentalEase is now available for WHITE CHRISTMAS. This new product is an orchestra enhancement instrument capable of augmenting a traditional ensemble of any size. Contact Realtime Music Solutions for more information: www.rms.biz, via email: info@rms.biz, or via phone: 212-620-0774.
License this show
1. Overture (The Company)
14. Sisters (Reprise) (Martha, Betty and Judy)
