INTERVIEW: This December, Paper Mill Playhouse has plenty of holiday cheer
Photo: Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, now playing the Paper Mill Playhouse, stars, from left, Reagan Pender, Casey Garvin, Max Clayton and Lance Roberts. Photo courtesy of Jeremy Daniel / Provided by BBB with permission.
The Paper Mill Playhouse, the respected regional theater in Millburn, New Jersey, is currently delighting audiences with its rendition of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, the movie-to-stage adaptation featuring many beloved songs. The musical continues through Dec. 29, and audiences can expect to hear tunes like “Count Your Blessings,” “Blue Skies” and, of course, “White Christmas.”
Accomplished actor Lance Roberts portrays the character of Gen. Henry Waverly, an important role in the narrative. The story surrounds two Army buddies who head up to a quaint Vermont inn to stage a musical, and along the way they find love and holiday cheer. But they must also contend with their old Army general.
“It’s a joy,” Roberts said in a recent phone interview. “It’s really fun to watch everyone’s faces when the snow comes down.”
Roberts, who has appeared on Broadway in The Pee-wee Herman Show and Ghost, was familiar with the original movie, which stars Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, and he also saw the musical’s original run in San Francisco several years ago. He had a good friend who was in the cast, so he took the trip to the Bay Area and remembers loving every minute of the show. Now, in 2024, he’s on stage and being reintroduced to the material.
“The first thing is that my dad was a lieutenant colonel in the Army, and when I started reading the script, I got excited because you see a lot of love for the soldiers toward the general,” Roberts said. “I didn’t really appreciate my dad’s life in the Army until I started reading this and realizing the camaraderie that soldiers have together, and then because I knew that Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. was the first African American general in America … I said, ‘Well, this is perfect for me to play this general.’ … It sort of reminds us that there’s been a history of African Americans leading troops in this country since the early-’40s, so I was very excited just to be a part of that history.”
Roberts added: “I think about what it means to have a diverse group of actors who are playing soldiers who are showing love to their superior, who happens to be African American. When you’re at war, there really isn’t any color. We’re all Americans, and I think about that a lot. It gives me a sense of, not agency, but a sense of, oh, I belong here. It’s not like, oh, I’m playing a role that’s not traditionally played by an African American. Nope, this is a story that has happened, and I get to remind people that it’s something that happened and continues to happen.”
The actor said he so happy to bring some of these tunes to life on the Paper Mill stage with the hard-working cast, which also features Keely Beirne, Ashley Blanchet, Max Clayton, Stacia Fernandez, Casey Garvin and Reagan Pender. One of his songs is “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” a staple of many winter playlists. Roberts also admitted that the musical features his second favorite song of all time, “Count Your Blessings” (for those keeping score at home, his favorite song is “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive”).
“I even get to learn something from the song, and it’s powerful for me,” Roberts said of “Count Your Blessings.” “I can barely get through it when I even talk about it because the lyrics are so powerful … so to actually recite them in a dramatic form is even more powerful for me.”
This is not Roberts’ first time at the Paper Mill Playhouse. He appeared in The Honeymooners several years ago, and he loves the sense of community that the regional theater has for its actors and its audience members.
“As you’re walking up, it’s like, ‘Oh, isn’t it charming,’ and then you walk in, you go, ‘Oh my God, this is as big as any Broadway theater and bigger than a few of them,'” he said. “The audiences are so appreciative. Even when I see shows there, I realize how appreciative people are because they’re getting Broadway quality out in their neck of the woods, and it’s just very exciting.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, featuring Lance Roberts, continues through Dec. 29 at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. Click here for more information and tickets.
