To See or Not to See: Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical

Holiday Inn, the New Irving Berlin Musical is, in one word, enjoyable. Based upon the 1942 movie version starring Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby, Holiday Inn has been slightly updated while maintaining that classic musical feel (i.e. the blackface number from the movie has been cut from the stage version). Chock-full of some of Irving Berlin’s greatest hits, it falls into the jukebox musical category. Indeed, quiet singing along could be heard throughout the audience during the solid renditions of popular classics (like “White Christmas,” “Easter Parade,” and “Cheek to Cheek”).

While everything about Holiday Inn is polished–the set, the actors, the score–it lacks a spark in the story. Jim (a sweet and lovable Bryce Pinkham) is part of a trio of nightclub performers, including his fiancé Lila (Megan Sikora) and his best friend Ted (Corbin Bleu). Jim’s dream is to leave performing for a quiet life on a farm, so he does just that…only Lila leaves him to continue to pursue stardom by Ted’s side. Jim throws himself into the Connecticut farm and tries in vain to make it work with the help of his handy woman, Louise (Jenifer Foote, a fantastic understudy to Megan Lawrence). As the bank bills pile up with no progress on creating a working farm, Jim and Louise decide to make the farm house into an inn. The inn is open only on holidays (aptly Holiday Inn) so Jim’s chorus-member friends have time to, well, perform at the inn. Not surprisingly, Jim meets Linda (Lora Lee Gayer), a sweet schoolteacher whose family used to own the farm he bought, and falls for her. Naturally, she is also a gifted performer. Will they end up together at Holiday Inn, or will she be seduced by the bright lights of fame, like Lila was? I think you can guess the answer to that one.

Despite the predictability of the story, the cast does a wonderful job of entertaining the audience. One performer that brought a smile to my face every single time he was on stage was from young Morgan Gao‘s turn as the cheeky student slash bank messenger, Charlie: an earnest yet winsome performance. Additionally, Lora Lee Gayer was reminiscent of Judy Garland and Jenifer Foote as Lucille Ball; both gave strong performances that lit up the stage. In general, the entire cast embodied the sweetness of what I associate with classical musicals.  The vocals may be good, but the dancing is great. It’s hard to not enjoy yourself during high-energy tap dancing numbers (kudos to choreographer Denis Jones for all the fancy footwork on display in Holiday Inn). Two incredible stand-out dance sequences involve tap dancing–the intricate tap dancing jump rope sequence that had me holding my breath and Corbin Bleu’s wonderful Fourth of July dance that set off (literal) fireworks.

So, as we approach holiday season, if you are looking for a family-friendly musical with energetic performances and a classic sound, Holiday Inn is a solid choice.

Holiday Inn is playing at Studio 54 through January 17, 2017. Find tickets for Holiday Inn here.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus