Entertaining ‘White Christmas’ will put you in Yuletide mood

Signature Production’s extravagant presentation of Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas,” now at the Summerlin Library and Performing Arts Center, is like a bright, shiny ornament you’d hang on the tree. A nostalgic picture-postcard look at an idealized time, it features the tap-dancing feet of numerous triple-threat performers and is perfect for inspiring a Yuletide mood.

It is based on the treasured 1954 Bing Crosby-Rosemary Clooney film but also elaborates on it, featuring additional Berlin music and lyrics with book by David Ives and Paul Blake. It retains the same plotline of the movie in typical old Hollywood musical style — “Hey kids, lets put on a show!” — with the show taking place in a barn.

We know this familiar story about World War II army vets Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, who, 10 years after the war, are now a famous entertaining duo.

The flirtatious Phil thinks the shy Bob should meet a girl, and they both do when they audition the beautiful sister act of Betty and Judy Haynes. While Bob is reluctant, Phil tricks him into following the girls and they board a train to supposedly snowy Vermont. When they arrive at the Columbia Inn, though, there’s not a snowflake to be found.

The lack of snow is an awful blow to the owner of the failing inn, who happens to be General Henry Waverly, Bob and Phil’s commander during the war. And so in the unseasonably warm weather blooms the idea for a fundraising show, requisite misunderstandings and, most importantly, love.

Meticulously directed by Deanna Anderson, the show is a series of lavish production numbers with a sparse storyline interspersed. The Technicolor look of the movie is evoked through lush Norman Rockwell-esque Christmas scene sets by Anderson and Stan Judd and by the dreamy theatrical haze-filtered lighting of Erika Courtney. While the designs are incredible to look at, like the fur-trimmed costumes, they sometimes have a prepackaged feel.

The orchestration is prerecorded with the many accomplished vocalists precisely directed by Shauna Oblad in often intricate harmonies. Ashley Oblad’s plentiful choreography is often recitallike, considering the show-within-a-show theme. But she excels with the Broadway-style tap numbers, complex with crowd-pleasing spectacle.

There’s not a weak link in the multitalented cast, with lead performers creating their own charming characterizations without copying those of the movie’s stars.

Powerhouse singers Michael Vojvodich as Bob and Alex Cheney as Phil seem like they’ve been friends forever.

Both have substantial skills as dancers, too, which Vojvodich proves as he leads the flowy “Blue Skies” and Cheney shows in the glitzy show tap piece “I Love a Piano,” a number he shares with the wonderful Diana Osborn as Judy. This number is a favorite with Osborn’s fantastic percussive tapping on full display.

Osborn and Kayla Hamblen as Betty share a pleasant sisterly rapport, giving a sweet rendition of the show’s most iconic number, the feathered fan dance “Sisters.” Hamblen has a lovely torch song in “Love, You Didn’t Do Right by Me,” a smoky nightclub bit replete with funny beatnik dancers.

Melissa Riezler shines as spunky comic foil Martha, adding pizazz with “Let Me Sing and I’m Happy,” and Gary Lunn as the crusty General Henry grounds the show.