Everyone knows White Christmas as a feel-good 1954 film starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary
Clooney and Vera-Ellen — along with songs by Irving Berlin. But it’s also a stage musical that features
the classic Berlin songs and, as a treat for Floridians, plenty of snow.
FALL 2018 | artsLife 79
PHOTO BY JEREMY DANIEL PHOTOGRAPHY
mand shows on Broadway, school kids will
also enjoy exposure to world-class theater.
Ramsberger says that members of touring
companies, as they usually do when visiting
Orlando, will conduct workshops in schools
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School of the Arts at Dr. Phillips Center.
“Extending the arts beyond our facility
and into the community is one of our top
priorities,” she adds.
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■ Jersey Boys (October 30–November
4). This jukebox musical, based on the timeless
hit songs and the behind-the-scenes
travails of Frankie Valli and the Four Sea-
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in 2006, and the Lawrence Olivier Award,
also for Best Musical, in 2009.
The New York production closed last
year after 4,642 shows at the August Wilson
Theatre, making it the 12th-longest running
show in Broadway history. It then re-opened
off-Broadway at New World Stages, where
it continues to thrive.
The success of Jersey Boys paved the way
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such as Beautiful about Carole King and On
Your Feet! about Emilio and Gloria Estefan.
Jersey Boys, structured as four “seasons,”
is told from the point of view of each group
member, including Valli. The story of four
tough street kids from the wrong side of the
tracks in Newark, New Jersey, struck a literal
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it also earned legions of new fans for the
quartet and its seemingly ageless frontman.
“This is a taste of reality, about four guys
who grew up in a certain way, in a certain
period of time, who, with all odds against
them, became successful,” says the original
Valli, whose career enjoyed a resurgence in
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nadian-born actor Jonny Wexler in the touring
show. For more on Wexler, see page 86.)
You surely know the songs: “December
1963 (Oh, What a Night),” “Sherry,” “Rag
Doll,” “Walk Like a Man” and “Working My
Way Back to You,” among many other chart-
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setto, which makes his voice one of the most
instantly distinctive in pop music history.