Review of Green Room's production of Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn at the Wyllyotts Theatre in Potters Bar.
Not being a devotee of old cinema, the only time I’ve encountered Holiday Inn is in that perennial pub quiz trick question ‘In which film was Bing Crosby’s famous Christmas song first featured?’.
Everyone says White Christmas but the answer’s Holiday Inn, the latter from 1942 predating the former by 12 years.
To complicate matters further, the stage version was only created in 2016 and had a couple of short runs in the US before Green Room brought this UK premiere to lucky Wyllyotts audiences.
The plot’s the same, Irving Berlin’s classic songs remain, but some of the more dated scenes have gone.
The result, in director John Hebden’s hands, was a joyous and colourful song and dance extravaganza, the perfect antidote to the ravages of Storm Ciaran outside.
It’s a simple story: top Broadway star Jim leaves the glamour, and his girl, behind to start a new life in the country but ends up turning his ranch into a showbiz hotel venue, putting on shows for his new rural neighbours with the help of his former pals.
Jim gets gradually closer to local girl Linda and the show culminates with their wedding.
As Jim, Matt Greenbank was perfectly cast: quiet, likeable, with a sweet voice and a vulnerability ideal for his fish-out-of-water journey.
In contrast, as his stage partner Ted, Elliot Moore gave us an overbearing, boorish, womanising egotist, skilled in song and dance but a worm in the wings. Love interest Linda was beautifully played by Holly Macer, not managing to hide her stunning voice and dance skills for long.
The characters may be stereotypes but were fleshed out skilfully by all the principals. These included dizzy blonde showgirl Lila, with Lucy Ramage accurately conveying why she was wrong for Jim; wide-boy manager Danny, perfectly embodied by Howard Salinger; and local yokel Louise – a brilliant performance by Kim Davis who came across as half landgirl, half Lucille Ball and electrified every scene she was in. She also gave us the show’s only nod to diversity, with her crush on starlet Veronica Lake.
A special mention has to go to young Noah Clarke as Charlie who delivered some killer lines with energy and understanding, totally deserving the audience’s frequent applause. I’m sure Charlie Green did just as well on alternating nights!
And then there’s the songs. Holiday Inn is a BIG show and Green Room filled Alastair Woodgate’s spacious set with huge troupes of 25 singer-dancers, song after song, as they celebrated a year of holidays, each with matching set and a total, I’m told, of well over 300 costumes.
I particularly liked the rhinestone-studded turkeys dancing with Pilgrim Fathers for Thanksgiving, and a breathtaking tap number, punctuated by juggling and rope-skipping!
Michelle Loader’s choreography was faultless, as were familiar numbers such as Blue Skies, Cheek to Cheek, Easter Parade and, of course White Christmas, complete with Matt’s Crosbyesque trills, all accompanied by MD Susana Tierney’s wonderful band.
It’s all unashamedly old-fashioned and, in our post-Sondheim era when songs in musicals are expected to deepen the character and advance the plot, it shouldn’t work.
But the sheer excellence of the Green Room gang, and the show-in-a-show device, means that it did: we revelled in the theatrical equivalent of a cocoa under the duvet.
For anyone lucky enough to catch this feel-good fiesta, Christmas certainly came early.
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