I was very disappointed that I couldn't wear my red coat. It's as red as a Santa suit and made of velvet, and so perfect for a night out to see "White Christmas." It has a wear-life of only about one month a year and in this month, and on this night, it was drizzling. Sigh. Whatever. To get into the spirit, I put the all-Christmas-music "oldies" station on the radio for my ride over. The weather outside might have been frightful, but I was looking to be delighted.

I got my ticket from will call and began to climb to my seat. I climbed, and climbed, and climbed. Up three floors. A bit out of breath, I sat down and evaluated my surroundings. I was five rows from the top of the Auditorium. There were only about two full rows of people up there, so either a lot of people didn't show up, or they just like to spread us out. Actually, there were also a fair amount of empty seats on the balcony below me. I couldn't see the ground floor. As I looked to the stage and noticed even the big marquee-curtain backdrop was fuzzy to me, I chided myself for not bringing binoculars. Lots of people up there had them. Shame on me for not being prepared. Whatever, again. I was still looking to be delighted. And by the look of the many holiday-red sweaters I saw, I wasn't the only one.

Being subject to a call for donations before the show did not delight me. Guaranteed, I did not pay for my $32.50 nose-bleed section ticket (thank you, City), but even if I had, I came here to see some magic, not to have my emotional guilt strings pulled to shell out even more money.

Let the show begin! The pit orchestra was a nice surprise. That my left eye is better than my right was a surprise too, as I switched between them to see which one I could see better with. OK, I'm ranting, but from where I was everything was blurry. No faces, just white skin shining between the costumes, and I was already scheming about hopping to a closer seat during intermission. So, I'll report from a wider view and say the sets were fun and cheesy and retro-clean, and the costumes were bright. The moving of the scenery during the show, and all the tech people on stage, wore rather thin. I later heard that it was supposed to seem like they were shooting a movie of the show, but that was lost on me. I came to see magic, not to see how magic is made. And if I'm not mistaken, maybe they are used to performing on a larger stage? The big dance numbers seemed a bit cramped. And the dancing itself was pretty lackluster, except for the "I Love a Piano" piece.

The acting, from what I could see, was great. David Engle, who plays Phil Davis, had the perfect black-and-white movie twang voice. And the little overall-wearing guy was right out of "Andy Griffith" or something. But it was Karen Murphy as Martha that blew me away. The powerhouse voice of Ethel Merman, the sass of Flo from "Alice," and the quirky timing of Lily Tomlin -- she was a delight!

During intermission, I ran into a friend who had empty seats next to him in the tenth row. Now I was ready to be launched into magic, excitedly awaiting the grand "White Christmas" finale. It was much more fun to actually see the action, but I would have preferred not to have seen the little girl wearing khaki bell-bottomed jeans. Did they even have them in 1942? They disrupted my viewing flow, but not any more than the backdrops coming down, the steel ladders with boom boys being rolled in, and the buildings changing during a scene. I know, I was supposed to imagine a movie being made.

The grand finale was a let down on two counts. One, because the set wasn't all that spectacular, just a Christmas tree in a barn. Secondly, because it wasn't really the finale. After the standing ovation (huh?), and the actors all lined up and did their bows, there was another number. Fake-out! A planned number, only this time fake snow came down on the audience in the front. It was a real crowd-pleaser, especially for the kids. You'd think they'd never seen snow in Rochester. But I noticed most women were wondering about their hair, and I was glad I hadn't worn my red coat.

Next up: Mos Def at UR.