LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill.—Irving Berlin (1888–1989) never expected his song “White Christmas” to be a big hit. At the time he wrote it in 1940, he thought of it as just a lightweight melody. But when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, the song took on a different meaning. As America mobilized for war and soldiers were on their way overseas, everyone longed for days “just like the ones I used to know.”
Indeed, there’s still many of us who also long for yesteryear America just like the ones we used to know. That’s why “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas,” which premiered in 2000, still resonates with us today and is one of the reasons that the production at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Illinois is a much-welcomed entertainment heralding this season’s Christmas.
