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Irving Berlin is considered one of the most prolific songwriters of all time. His music has become an unofficial soundtrack of our lives, especially around the holidays. For July Fourth, it's "God Bless America"; for Easter, it's "Easter Parade"; for Christmas, it's, of course, "White Christmas." Try just saying the song title without immediately hearing Bing Crosby singing: "...just like the ones I used to know." It's nearly impossible.

Irving Berlin's White Christmas is back on Broadway for the second year and is also on a national tour. Instrumental in the stage birth of the holiday tuner were Ted Chapin, head of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization and controller of the Berlin songbook; Berlin's three daughters, Mary Ellin Barrett, Linda Emmet and Elizabeth Peters, and book writer/co-producer Paul Blake.

The show's score is made up of the music and lyrics of 18 Berlin songs, ranging from the film version of "Snow" to the newly added "I Love a Piano."

"Berlin wrote a lot with the word 'dance' in it — as much as the score makes you want to sing, it makes you want to dance," Errico says.

What is it that makes Berlin's music so magical? Mary Ellin Barrett, Berlin's eldest daughter, says that's a question not easily answered.

"Because it's good. What can I say? Irving Berlin lasts and he's attractive to so many people because his songs are solidly built. They have tremendous life."

And while Barrett said her father loved the movie of "White Christmas," she's happy his legacy is being continued on Broadway.

When asked what she thought her father would say of the production, she laughed, "I'm not going to speak for him, I wouldn't dare."

I guess she knows better than anyone about the power of her father's words. Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, there's no doubt that the songs of White Christmas will evoke that warm, gooey feeling that is universally prescribed, especially in a recession-time holiday.

So take Berlin's own advice for a "merry and bright" holiday: "When my bankroll is getting small/I think of when I had none at all/And I fall asleep counting my blessings."

Frank DiLella is theatre producer for NY1's "OnStage."