Ole Pappy
A successful song-and-dance team become romantically involved with a sister act and team up to save the failing Vermont Inn of their former commanding general.
That’s the premise for this weekend’s production of, “White Christmas,” being delivered by the cast at Minneota High School.
When I heard they were putting on this play, I asked one of the kids in the cast, “Who is playing Bing Crosby?”
The person looked at me funny, said, “Who?” and proceeded to say, “You mean the main character?”
It was at that point I realized how old I was. Of-course, high school kids probably never heard of Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye or Rosemary Clooney.
But I grew up with them on the big screen and now I was showing my age. Well, I was told that part is being played by Jacob Haen.
So I went to a dress rehearsal to see if I was going to see some struggling young people on stage, or was I going to see and hear Crosby, Kaye, Clooney and the rest belt out some really charming songs, including, “I’m dreaming of a White Christmas.”
What I got was an absolute surprise.
When Jacob Haen and Jackson Jeremiason came to the stage in the roles made famous by Crosby and Kaye, I was absolutely astonished.
Haen and Jeremiason were NOT on the stage.
Oh, their bodies were, but they were so into character, so smooth and so convincing, I could almost see Crosby and Kaye clowning their way across the stage.
Then, when “The Haynes Sisters” came into the picture, playing the duo made famous in 1954 by Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen, again I was thrown to the floor in astonishment.
Natalie Bot and Cecilia Rabaey not only brought those two characters to life, but they belted out songs that made their parts seem as though they were written for them.
I began to understand why Director Aubree Cheadle said she went looking for a play so the incredible talents of these and other Minneota kids could shine through.
She also said it would be nostalgic to bring to a Minneota audience. If you remember the movie or come from that long-ago time in our history, you won’t be able to keep yourself from singing along with some remarkable songs, even in today’s world.
I checked it out and found out a few remarkable things about the White Christmas movie.
Here are some of them.
1. Bing Crosby actually performed the song, “White Christmas” 13 years earlier on the radio show, “The Kraft Music Hall.”
2. Danny Kaye’s role was originally intended for Fred Astaire, but he declined.
3. Crosby and Clooney, the romantic pairing in the movie, had a 25-year-gap in their ages.
4. Clooney plays Vera-Ellen’s older sister, but was actually seven years younger that Vera-Ellen.
5. Vera-Ellen didn’t sing any of the songs, which were sung by Clooney or Trudy Stevens. But she was a dancer and she sure did that.
6. Rosemary Clooney is actually an aunt to current actor George Clooney. Go see this show. You’re going to be amazed!!!
LAUGH A LITTLE: OK, who shot it? Three friends decided to go deer hunting together. One was a lawyer, one a doctor, and the other a priest. As they were walking, along came a big buck. The three of them all shot at the same time. Immediately the buck dropped to the ground, and all three rushed up to see how big it actually was. Upon reaching it, they found out that it was dead, but had only one bullet hole. Then an argument followed concerning who shot it. A few minutes later a game warden came along, and asked what they were arguing about. The lawyer told him their reason for the argument. The game warden told them he would take a look and tell them who shot it. The game warden bent down and checked the deer over very carefully. The game warden said, “The priest shot it! It went in one ear, and out the other.”
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK: As my Ole Pappy used to say, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” Ole Pappy had this idea that we should be constantly looking .“Outside the box” to find an answer to things. When I was looking for a newspaper person to help with the Mascot, I found, instead, a computer person. Turns out that’s exactly what we needed. I looked outside the box and sure enough, there was the answer. Thanks Ole Pappy!