“Holiday Inn”

Recommended *** The “Holiday Season” is here. One of the annual events for theater people is that either “White Christmas”, Miracle on 34th street or “Holiday Inn” will be on an area stage. This year ( the year after the Pandemic closures) it is Drury Lane and “Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn”. Directed and choreographed by Matt Crowle, this is a lovely romp filled with marvelous Berlin tunes like “Steppin Out With My Baby”, “Blue Skies”, “Heat Wave”, “It’s A Lovely Day Today”,”Cheek to Cheek” and so many more including “Easter Parade”. Berlin wrote a lot of songs. “Holiday Inn” was a film and later converted to a stage production. Because of the “White Christmas” song, many people get confused with the other film turned staged musical, “White Christmas”- it is a different story.

In “Holiday Inn”, not to be confused with the hotel/motel chain worldwide, the story evolves about Jim Hardy ( it is great to see Adrian Aguilar back on stage) a song and dance man who buys a farm in Connecticut so he can quit the rat race. His fiancee, who is also part of their trio, Lila ( Darilyn Burtley) wants to hit the heights and goes on with the third member of the trio, Ted Hanover ( played to perfection by Drew Humphrey). Jim tells Lila to pursue her dream and when the tour is done to come back to him.

Now we switch to his deeply mortgaged farm in Connecticut. He meets the former owner of the property  Linda ( an incredible performance by Erica Stephan) who at one time wanted a show-biz career ( you can tell where this is leading already, can’t you?). With the farm, Jim inherits Louise ( a powerful comic touch by Danielle Davis) a “handyman/Jack-of-all-trades” who is also a matchmaker, bringing them together. Both are alone and sad, and with Louise’s help we watch them become a couple. However the farm is deep in debt, so the idea is to use all his talented friends and put on shows for every holiday, thus the name “Holiday Inn”.

Each Holiday, a special production. Everything is going smoothly until Ted comes back into the picture needing a new dance partner. He is drunk and dances with Linda- there is chemistry and so he steals her away to do a film in Hollywood. Of course, we have some sadness, but we know that in the 1940’s we always had a happy ending and the book by Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge delivers just that, a happy ending at the Holiday Inn.

This is a smaller than usual ensemble with many cast members taking on several roles: Jessica Blair, Joe Capstick, Leon Davis, Danielle Jackman, Mandy Modic, Ayana Strutz, Edward Tolve, Arik Vega, Marisa Fee and Gray Randolph. They prove that good things can come in small packages- they are all terrific and Jessica Blair is quite the comic.

The other two cast members are Honey West as Danni Reed ( Ted’s agent) and an incredible performance by Nicole Scimeca as Charlie. She is adorable and dances up a storm in the firecracker sequence. ( this part is also played by Lily Kocourek on rotation). I can tell you that this will get you into the holiday spirit and is a great welcome back to this glorious theater.

On the tech side, the set ( Jeffrey D. Kmiec) is one that moves as if a Broadway production. While it is simple, it keeps the flow of action moving well and we feel that we are where we are. The lighting (Lee Fiskness) and sound (Ray Nardelli) were spot on and the costumes ( there are a lot of costumes by Lynda Myers) perfect. The props by Cassy Schillo were realistic, the wigs and hair by Emily Young were perfect and the projections (Bryce Cutler) completed the picture painted by Crowe.

“Holiday Inn” will continue through January 9th with performances as follows:

Wednesdays  1:30 p.m.

Thursdays  1:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Fridays  8 p.m.

Saturdays  3 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Sundays  2 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Tickets range from$59- $74 and can be purchased by calling 630-530-0111

or online at www.DruryLaneTheatre.com

The theatre is located at 100 Drury Lane in Oakbrook ( just North of the Oakbrook Mall). Lots of free parking and valet available as well.

The running time is approx. 2 hours with an intermission, but our “post-Covid” numbers are slightly off. It takes a little longer to check in. You do not have to show anything at Drury Lane BUT you MUST wear your mask during the entire performance.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn”.