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Title: SOME SPARKLE, NO STARS
Review: While it's always fun to listen to Irving Berlin tunes, and this show has a special nostalgic appeal for Boomers, what's missing on this album is what's missing in the show: stars. Films like "Easter Parade", "Holiday Inn", and "White Christmas" survive because they have high octane stars -- it takes talent of that caliber to put over these songs and the very thin stories that hold them together. On this album, only that veteran belter Karen Morrow (who is not playing the role on Broadway) hits the musical nail on the head, and when she's on hand the album takes off. But she's only on hand for two numbers. The four leads are so bland they barely register -- just standard issue Broadway voices, scrubbed clean of personality. Crosby, Clooney, Kaye and even Vera-Ellen, had star quality, and without them this is a blah Christmas, indeed.
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