Music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. Book by David Ives and Paul Blake. Based on the film written by Norman Krasna, Norman Panama, and Melvin Frank. An Arts Club Theatre Company production. At the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage on Wednesday, November 18. Continues until December 27

With the opening of White Christmas at the Arts Club, the holiday season has officially begun, and chances are you’ll leave the theatre feeling happy about that.

The story of this 2004 musical pretty much follows that of the 1954 movie it’s based on. Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, who performed for their fellow soldiers during World War II, have made it big in show biz. Phil falls for Judy Haynes, who is half of an up-and-coming sister act. Her sister Betty and Bob can’t stand one another, but we all know what that means. The four of them team up to fill the Vermont inn of Bob and Phil’s old commander, Gen. Henry Waverly, who has fallen on hard times.

The creators of the stage version have tossed in 11 new songs, all by Irving Berlin, who penned the movie numbers, some of which have been cut. The gifted cast knocks off some fantastic tap-dancing in “I Love a Piano”, which now opens the second act, but too many of the newly inserted tunes do nothing to advance the narrative, so the show starts to feel a tad hollow. Réjean Cournoyer’s performance as the general also lacks emotional punch. For too long, Cournoyer only presents the hard-ass side of this man. For the show to work, we’ve got to know from the start that the general’s troops love him because he so obviously cares deeply for them.

Fortunately, Sara-Jeanne Hosie is fantastic as Betty. She’s completely relaxed, which makes her charming, and when she sings her enormous voice simply pours out of her. Todd Talbot, one of this town’s most charismatic song-and-dance men, is cheekily engaging as Phil. Jeffrey Victor is velvet-voiced and likable enough as Bob, but there’s little distinguishing texture to his acting. And Monique Lund could tone it way, way down as Judy. Judy should be perky, but on opening night, Lund’s Judy was so eager she was downright carnivorous.

The physical production never lands in a coherent aesthetic. Lighting designer Marsha Sibthorpe uses some truly awful digital projections that threaten to turn this mounting into a video game and that don’t make sense—even for fantasy sequences—within Alison Green’s serviceable set.

The evening’s not perfect, but the goodwill flowing off the stage is palpable, and the second act is more emotionally satisfying than the first. Under Bruce Kellett’s musical direction, the band and the singers all sound great, and Valerie Easton’s choreography is first-rate. Ten-year-old Rachael Withers, who plays the general’s granddaughter Susan, embodies what’s best about this White Christmas: she’s singing and dancing her heart out and having the time of her life.