Conceived by Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge in 2014, and dubiously subtitled “The New Irving Berlin Musical” for its brief and unremarkable Broadway run in 2016, “Holiday Inn” is actually based on a 1942 movie starring Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby, which featured a dozen or so songs written by Berlin (including “White Christmas,” for which he won an Oscar).
The “new” stage version throws in several other older Berlin standards (1926’s “Blue Skies,” 1933’s “Heat Wave,” 1936’s “Cheek to Cheek”), and the script simply updates the setting to 1946-47, leaving the bulk of the corny plot intact. (The show opens with a projected titles sequence done up like a grainy black-and-white film, inaccurately crediting Universal instead of Paramount, the studio that produced and released the original movie.)
Notwithstanding that City Springs Theatre has touted its current mounting of the musical as a “regional premiere,” most people will likely feel that they’ve seen and heard it all before. For sure, the production values are suitably lavish, in what has already become a tradition for City Springs (after a mere two years on the local theater scene, no less). While Kyle Dixon’s old-fashioned scenic design relies a bit too heavily on painted backdrops rather than material set pieces, Amanda Edgerton West’s colorful period costumes are as sensational as ever.
Artistic director Brandt Blocker conducts the company’s consummate 11-member orchestra. Under the music direction of Chris Brent Davis and highlighting the choreography of Cindy Mora Reiser, the bigger chorus numbers (“Easter Parade,” “Let’s Start the New Year Right,” etc.) are rousingly performed by an energetic ensemble of 12 singers and dancers.
But their obvious hard work is somewhat diminished in service to such a dull and dispiriting dud of a vehicle. “Holiday Inn” has been directed by Greg London, who previously visited town in July to play Edna Turnblad in City Springs’ “Hairspray.” Joining him this time around are all five of his leading actors, many of whom have done the show elsewhere during the last few years. As if it were one of those touring productions at the Fox Theatre, a credit in the program states, “Principal casting by (New York-based) Binder Casting.”
Some characters pose unique challenges, of course — the cross-dressing Edna is one of them, the ballet-dancing young protagonist of “Billy Elliot” (which City Springs staged back in May) would be another — when it’s conceivable that a local company might need to look out of town to find just the right performer to pull it off.
Nicholas Rodriguez and Tyler Hanes play Jim and Ted, best friends and partners in a popular nightclub team. While the self-absorbed Ted aspires to fame and fortune in Hollywood, Jim is content to buy a farm in Connecticut to put on holiday-themed shows in his barn. Hayley Podschun and Samantha Sturm are the respectively virtuous and brassy love interests for whose affections they compete. Only Jan Neuberger truly excels in Marjorie Main/Charlotte Greenwood-inspired comic relief.
That role is a moderately amusing new addition to an otherwise worn-out showbiz story, and in more ways than one, the same old song and dance from a bygone era.
THEATER REVIEW
“Holiday Inn”
Through Sunday. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. $30-$82. Byers Theatre (at the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center), 1 Galambos Way, Sandy Springs. 770-206-2022. cityspringstheatre.com.
Bottom line: For undemanding audiences only.
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