Review: Sharp And Snazzy HOLIDAY INN Is An Irving Berlin Bonanza

It's been said that Irving Berlin was no fan of big musical spectacles, which is why he stopped writing songs for the ZIEGFELD FOLLIES and had the intimate Music Box Theatre built so that his work could be framed by smart revues that emphasized music and lyrics over glitz and showgirls.

So while Roundabout's new musical based on the 1942 Bing Crosby/Fred Astaire film, HOLIDAY INN, which featured a full score of Berlin numbers - most significantly "White Christmas" and "Easter Parade" - is, by contemporary Broadway standards, a bit small-scale, it accomplishes the Berlin mission of pushing delicious songs like "Blue Skies," "Heat Wave," "Be Careful, It's My Heart," "Cheek To Cheek" and "Steppin' Out With My Baby" to the forefront, along with the terrific talents of its gem of a cast.

The book by Chad Hodge and director Gordon Greenberg keeps the main plot point of a nightclub trio that turns into a duo when its singing star decides to quit show business and retire to a farm in Connecticut, eventually escaping from foreclosure by turning the place into an inn that presents holiday-themed musical shows. But specifics have been altered to streamline the plot, remove racial insensitivity (The blackface salute to Abraham Lincoln has been axed.) and to even suggest, without making a joke of it, that there were homosexuals in show business during the 1940s.

Wisely, the leading men are not modeled after the icons who created their roles on film. The delightfully quirky and wryly humored Bryce Pinkham plays Jim, the singer/songwriter who discovers that farming isn't always as charming as Cole Porter would say.

Jim's act with dancers Ted (Corbin Bleu) and Lila (Megan Sikora) is stuck playing dives as the show begins, but while the latter is happy to accept his marriage proposal, she's not exactly keen on retiring from show business to pursue country living. When the chance for a major six-month tour arises, Lila promises to marry Jim after she and Ted hit the road as a twosome, but can she really pump showbiz out of her blood?

Bleu, who dances with tousled charm and athletic grace, and Sikora, who puts an airy comic spin on her showgirl sass, make for a dynamite team.

Meanwhile, back in Connecticut, Jim has met the kind and sweet Linda (Lora Lee Gayer) who grew up in his now worse for wear purchase and was forced to leave when she couldn't keep up with back payments after her father died. It seems she once ventured out to New York with showbiz dreams of her own, but returned to take care of her dad after mom ran off with a Fuller Brush man.

As the woman who gave up her dreams for family responsibilities and, as the plot develops, gets a new chance to see them come true, Gayer gives the evening its touching sincerity with beautiful singing and a simply realistic performance.

In the original screenplay, Jim and Ted start out as rivals for Lila's heart, but in this version Ted only expresses a professional interest in women. So when he shows up drunk at Jim's New Year's Eve show after Lila leaves him for a sugar daddy, all he can remember the next morning is that he danced with someone who seemed like a perfect partner. This leads to one of choreographer Denis Jones' showcase moments. As the dashing Bleu croons "You're Easy to Dance With," his sobered-up character tries to find his mystery partner from the previous evening by cutting rugs with each of Jim's chorus girls, all of whom possess a distinct style and personality.

While the main characters play out their conflict between bright lights and the simple life, the hilarious Megan Lawrence smacks out a parade of wisecracks and sight gags as "handyman" Louise, who leads the gang singing the sensational first act showstopper "Shaking the Blues Away," which features the dancing ensemble jumping rope and Double Dutch-ing with strings of Christmas garland.

Solid comical support is also supplied by Lee Wilkof as the harried talent agent and Morgan Gao as the unflappable delivery kid who's always bringing bad news.

HOLIDAY INN is unabashed fluff, delectably served up sharp and snazzy from start to finish.