Corbin Bleu, Lora Lee Gayer, Bryce Pinkham and Ensemble (Photo: Joan Marcus)
It is safe to assume that there is always a little trepidation,
some anxiety and perhaps even worry that a stage adaptation of a modest classic
film musical will run the risk of being not only patently quaint but also seriously
out-of-touch with life as we know it. Put aside your fears as the 1942 film
musical “Holiday Inn,” with its wondrously melodic score by Irving Berlin, has
been beautifully restored/re-envisioned by director Gordon Greenberg and
co-writer Chad Hodge for the Roundabout Theatre Company. To be sure, there is a
quaintness to the basic and barely credible story that has been updated to post
World War II. But there are just enough infusions and inferences with a
contemporary resonance that will appeal to young audiences who may not be
bringing along the nostalgia that will inevitably come with older audience
members.
The plot follows the travails of singer Jim (Bryce Pinkham) after
he has a parting of the ways with dancer Ted (Corbin Bleu) his b.f. and professional partner.
Jim decides to give up showbiz for a less stressful life buying and maintaining a working farm (really?) So
what is a smart but desperate guy to do when the crops fail and the mortgage is
due? Of course, he turns to his terping and chirping Broadway pals for help in transforming
the dilapidated homestead into a snazzy retreat with entertainment....but only
on the holidays (really?) Jim gets a little help and more than a little romance
from former farm owner and school teacher Linda (Lora Lee Gayer) whose former aspirations
of a career in the theater are suddenly re-kindled.
Pinkham sings beautifully and is again displaying the disarming
and attractive qualities that made us root for him in “A Gentleman’s Guide to
Love and Murder.” Bleu is a real find for those of us who don’t know him from “High
School Musical” and “Dancing with the Stars.” As the sweetly rakish Ted, Bleu
rips up the stage with his exuberantly stylish dancing to “You’re Easy to Dance
with” and literally creating fireworks with “Let’s Say it with Fireworks.” The
absolutely beguiling, multi-talented Gayer is a delight as Linda. Her silvery
soprano and lovely presence is deftly deployed in song and dance throughout the
show.
The best part of this sunny feel-good show is the abundance
of tuneful Berlin songs, some of which are not in the original film. “Easter
Parade,” “Happy Holiday,” and “White Christmas” are now joined by “Blue Skies,”
“Heat Wave,” “Shaking the Blues Away,” “It’s a Lovely Day Today” and more treasures
from the Berlin songbook.
With all those great songs, also be prepared for some great
and inventive dancing. Choreographer Denis Jones is full of surprises using an assortment props
and special effects (they should be surprises) that bring to mind some of the imaginative
dance numbers created by filmdom’s Busby Berkeley. It won’t be long into the
show before you are shaking your blues away with a splendid cast that has
captured the era, the time and place with the same panache as has set designer Anna Louizos and costume designer
Alejo Vietti. . .oh, those Easter bonnets!
Standout among the supporting cast
are Megan Lawrence as the smart-alecky resident handywoman, Megan Sikora as Ted’s
sassy and brassy blonde fiance and dancing partner, and the terrific young Morgan
Gao who is making his Broadway debut as the delivery boy. But it’s director
Greenberg and choreographer Jones who have delivered the real goods. "Holiday Inn" is undoubtedly the most gloriously gift-wrapped holiday
treat on Broadway.
"Holiday Inn"
Roundabout Theatre Company Studio 54, 254 West 54th Street
Through January 15, 2017
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