‘White Christmas’ is director’s annual holiday gift

Randy Skinner has spent a long time dreaming of a “White Christmas.”

The choreographer-director first became involved with the theatrical adaptation of the classic film about 15 years ago.

“I never gave it a thought that it would turn into an annual thing,” Skinner says. “I didn’t know at the time just how beloved the movie was.”

The Broadway touring production of what’s officially billed as “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas” stops at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts from Tuesday through Sunday.

Berlin gets billed because to flesh out the movie for a stage presentation, additional songs by the legendary composer were added to the score.

A stickler for detail, Skinner insisted that only Berlin tunes composed before 1954 — the year of the movie’s release — be used in the show. He still was faced with an embarrassment of riches — “Berlin is my absolute favorite composer and lyricist,” he says.

In the end, Berlin standards such as “I Love a Piano” and “How Deep Is the Ocean” made their way into the stage show. Creating the vibe of the era is important, Skinner says.

The movie famously starred Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen. But Skinner has a confession — as a dancer himself, he was a bigger fan of Fred Astaire so preferred the 1942 film “Holiday Inn,” which introduced the world to the song “White Christmas.”

“I’m such a movie person, I watch a film every night,” he says with a chuckle. “It’s ironic that my career has been spent in New York in the theater.”

But he has found ways to work his love of movies into his theatrical career. One of his notable credits is choreographing and codirecting Broadway’s “State Fair,” based on the movie musical. And he has a long association with “42nd Street” — also based on a Golden Era film — from assisting the legendary director-choreographer Gower Champion on the original Broadway production, to choreographing the latest splashy London revival, which is still playing.

“I have always created film images in my head when I work on stage,” he says. Audiences will get a sense of that at the musical’s climax when (spoiler alert) the snowflakes arrive.

“We have a beautiful design for that,” Skinner says. “It makes a beautiful picture.”