Laura Davis meets Aled Jones and Adam Cooper, the stars of the stage musical White Christmas

BING CROSBY said of his part in the success of the song White Christmas: “A jackdaw with a cleft palate could have sung it successfully.”

But his trademark bass-baritone voice – richer than a plum pudding and warmer than chestnuts roasting on an open fire – was far from the hoarse croak of a crow.

Also avoiding ornithological comparisons is Aled Jones, who is playing the Crosby role of Bob Wallace in the stage version of the 1954 technicolor movie named for that very song.

First known to the public for his cover of Walking in the Air, from Channel 4’s animation The Snowman in 1982, he remains for many the boy who sung Christmas.

“It’s a nice time of year so I don’t mind people associating me with it and if I did I’d have a problem,” says the Welsh singer, actor and TV presenter.

“Of course I don’t sing that song in the show but I get a lot of people coming up to me and asking why not.”

Born in Bangor as the only child of a teacher and shipbuilder’s draughtsman, Jones joined his local cathedral choir at the age of nine, where he became lead soloist. After his success with Walking in the Air, which rose to number five in the UK singles charts, he continued recording but his career as a boy soprano singer came to a sudden end when his treble voice broke.

Advised by Welsh tenor Stuart Burrows not to sing publicly for five years, he got on with life, applied to drama school and waited to be rediscovered.

This is his third stint of playing Bob, a role that fits neatly around his recording career and radio and TV work.

“I’d worked with the producers before in Cardiff and I just fancied doing a bit more acting,” says the Songs of Praise presenter.