Holiday Inn is a grand movie
from the heyday of musicals. With music and lyrics by Irving Berlin and stars
like Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, it could hardly go wrong and it didn’t. That
was in 1942. In 2016 a musical based on the movie opened on Broadway and now
the Shaw Festival has staged it in Niagara-on-the-Lake as part of its Holiday
Season.
One cannot argue with the choice. The plot of
Holiday Inn may be wafer-thin
but the music, songs, dancing, comedy and glitz are a sheer pleasure. White
Christmas, Easter Parade, Cheek to Cheek, It’s a Lovely Day Today are
milestones in American popular music.
The plot? Well, Jim (Kyle Blair), Ted (Kyle
Golemba) and Lila (Kimberley Rampersad) are friends and a song and dance trio
performing in New York. Jim loves Lila and he wants to chuck show biz for the
simple life on a farm with her. Manager Danny (Jay Turvey) finds a booking for
them and Lila goes to perform with Ted. She promises to return to Jim. Guess
what?
Jim goes to the farm and meets the beautiful
Linda (Kristi Frank), a teacher who gave up showbiz and whose farm the bank
sold to Jim. Louise (Jenny L. Wright) is an energetic and entertaining handywoman
who works on the failing farm.
Kyle Blair as Jim
Hardy, Kristi Frank as Linda Mason, Kyle Golemba as Ted Hanover
with the
ensemble of Holiday Inn. Photo by Emily Cooper.
The farm does not do well but the big house
on the farm can be saved if it is turned into a Holiday Inn for entertainers.
We have holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, and 4th
of July which employ a lot of entertainers and they need some place to crash.
Things start looking up for Jim and for the audience and with some
complications, but also some great songs, dances and glamour, we can be
entertained for a couple of hours.
The production has some definite virtues.
There are a number of set changes between the farm and the club done with efficiency.
There are gorgeous gowns and numerous costume changes that are a pleasure to
the eye. Jay Turvey as Danny the manager is hilarious and Jenny L. Wright as
the factotum gets very good laughs.
As with any show, one needs a superb cast to
bring out its best elements. It is here that the Shaw Festival falls a bit
short. The ensemble that sings and dances does reasonably well in the former
but falls short in the latter. The disciplined form and rhythm are not always
there. Allison Plamondon’s choreography is outstanding and adds greatly to the
show.
Kyle Golemba as Ted
Hanover, Kristi Frank as Linda Mason, Kyle Blair as
Jim Hardy (foreground) and
the ensemble of Holiday Inn. Photo by Emily Cooper.
The principals’ singing was decent but
unfortunately fell short of the high standards we expect from the Shaw
Festival.
Judith Bowden’s sets were fluid, colourful
and quite beautiful in keeping with the spirit of the musical.
Kate Hennig directs the show and must needs
take credit for the virtues and responsibility for its shortcomings.
In fairness I should note that the show was
well received. The audience applauded faithfully after every number with
relatively little enthusiasm at the beginning but by the end their enthusiasm
increased and they seemed to be enjoying it fully. When the curtain went down,
they gave the cast a standing ovation.
______________
Holiday Inn by Irving Berlin (music
and lyrics) and Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge (book) continues until December 22, 2019 at the Festival
Theatre, 10 Queen’s Parade, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. www.shawfest.com.
James Karas is the Senior Editor - Culture of The Greek Press
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