Based on the 1954 film of the same name, the stage show is filled with Berlin songs from the picture and from his catalog. The new libretto is by David Ives and Paul Blake.
In the show, seen on Broadway and in major markets in a Broadway-style production, "Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, two former G.I.s and famous song-and-dance men, decide to bring their extravagant Broadway revue to their former General's rustic Vermont inn for the holidays," according to Pioneer. "To add to the excitement, they bring along sister act Betty and Judy Haynes and prove that romance can blossom at any time."
Sessions has appeared in the Off-Broadway productions of Anyone Can Whistle, Yank! and Godspell, and in the national tours of South Pacific, Legally Blonde and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
Falter appeared in the national tour of Some Like It Hot starring Tony Curtis. His regional credits include leading roles in Singin' in the Rain, 42nd Street, George M!, Crazy For You, State Fair starring John Davidson and Cats. This is his PTC debut.
Betty and Judy Haynes are played by Amy Justman and Kaitlyn Davidson, respectively. Justman understudied the role of Betty Haynes in the 2008 Broadway company of White Christmas. Her other New York credits include Susan in Company (PBS' Great Performances/Original Revival Cast Recording), Show Boat and The Grapes of Wrath (at Carnegie Hall). Davidson was most recently seen in the Actors Fund production of They're Playing Our Song with Sutton Foster. Earlier this year, she originated several roles in the world premiere of the musical Johnny Baseball at the American Repertory Theatre.
Paul Mason Barnes directs a cast that also includes Dick Decareau as General Waverly; Mary Fanning Driggs as Martha Watson, the General's housekeeper; John Shuman as Ezekiel; Kiira Schmidt and Jennifer Mathie as the man-hungry chorus girls Rita and Rhoda; Steven Fehr as Mike Nulty, the stage manager of the Wallace and Davis show; Anne Stewart Mark as chorus girl Tessie and Sheldrake's secretary; and James Patrick as Ralph Sheldrake, a producer on "The Ed Sullivan Show"; plus local actress Alexia "Ally" Ioaniddes as the General's granddaughter Susan; with Bree Branker, Eric Lee Brotherson, Joseph Cullinane, Mathew deGuzman, Dena DiGiacinto, Christopher Kotera, Andrea Mislan (dance captain and assistant choreographer), Tony Neidenbach, Patrick O'Neill, Rhett Guter, Breann Johnson, Maggy Lawrence, Christine Moore, John T. Wolfe and Robin Young.
Director Barnes is a founding and producing director of the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona, MN.
The creative team includes choreographer Dirk Lumbard (a performer in Broadway's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; Imaginary Friends; The Music Man; On Your Toes; Barnum and Sugar Babies); musical director Michael Horsley; set designer George Maxwell; costume designer K.L. Alberts; lighting designer Phil Monat; hair and makeup designer Amanda French; and sound designer Matthew Tibbs.
Pioneer Theatre Company, Utah's major resident professional theatre, performs at Roy W. and Elizabeth E. Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre, located on the University of Utah campus at 300 South and 1400 East in Salt Lake City.
For more information, visit pioneertheatre.org.
