Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical

"All of the performers are skilled singers and actors, filling in the generic contours of their characters with proficient professionalism...The interpolated songs are integrated into the plot smoothly enough, without lifting the show’s mild temperature...'Holiday Inn' wore out its welcome for me well before the inevitable reprise of 'White Christmas' that comes toward the close...It’s polished and pleasant. But a great gift to the theater season aborning it’s not." Full Review

"While Roundabout's new musical is, by contemporary Broadway standards, a bit small-scale, it accomplishes the Berlin mission of pushing delicious songs to the forefront, along with the terrific talents of its gem of a cast...'Holiday Inn' is unabashed fluff, delectably served up sharp and snazzy from start to finish." Full Review

"Even though the authors have tried to insert some contemporary zest into this 1946-set story, the promise of newness is largely undeliverable. Thankfully, 'Holiday Inn' embraces its traditional nature wholeheartedly, turning this premiere into a jubilant throwback to a bygone era...When Jones' eye-popping steps are combined with the sounds of the elegant 13-piece band led by Andy Einhorn, 'Holiday Inn' shimmers with that breathless pleasure only musicals can deliver." Full Review

"So sweetly wholesome that you experience a sugar rush while watching it, the show is corny and predictable. But it will surely provide a happy diversion for stressed-out theatergoers during the holiday season...Pinkham and Gayer prove an appealing romantic duo, while Bleu displays his formidable singing and dancing chops in his underwritten role...There may be lulls in between, but this is a 'Holiday Inn' you'll want to check into." Full Review

"Bleu has a winning muscularity and grace in various tap and ballroom sequences. Pinkham generates some chemistry with Gayer. They duet sweetly on 'White Christmas,' one of the two dozen-odd Irving Berlin ditties jukeboxed into a jazzy-elegant score. And let’s hear it for the chorus—an adorable, charmingly diverse bunch. Sure, there’s more corn and cheese served in this earnest, sweater-vested affair than any nutritionist would approve, but what harm in a cup of early eggnog?" Full Review

"Holiday Inn' is less a 'New Irving Berlin Musical' than a new Irving Berlin medley. But that seems to have been the intention, using the cover of old-fashioned family entertainment to excuse the let’s-throw-it-all-on-the-stage aesthetic. The emphasis on brightness and speed is so extreme that the show too often feels paradoxically dim and tiresome. (The sets are flat, the lights are glare-y, and the costumes are garish.) Certainly the dialogue, which is mostly backfill, doesn’t help." Full Review

"An unassuming and unchallenging musical, and an ineffectively assembled one at that. On the plus side, there are three very good dance numbers and some ingratiating performances...Audiences looking for a non-challenging, 100% old-fashioned musical might well have an altogether swell time at 'Holiday Inn.' But the overall effect is dampened, as if everything but that firecracker number was staged with soggy powder." Full Review

"Greenberg and Hodge have significantly rethought, reshaped and revitalized the script, giving the show more heart, a slightly modern sensibility and a joyful spirit. Engaging performances, dynamic dancing and a lively orchestra make it the feel-good show of the fall...The lead performers are smashing, especially Pinkham...Bleu is a spark plug of energy, and his hoofing in 'You’re Easy to Dance With' and 'Let’s Say It With Firecrackers' are two of the musical’s dance delights." Full Review

"No real effort has been made to differentiate this show from the other recent Berlin offering, 'White Christmas,' or to integrate the songs into the show...You can check out anytime you like, and chances are that one will as the leaden dialogue trudges to its close. Still, the Berlin tunes are of course a treat, with zippy orchestrations and zestful playing...If a new musical ever needed fresh linens, it’s this one." Full Review

"This new edition is pleasant enough, featuring a treasure trove of Irving Berlin tunes..,All are delivered with charm by a smiling ensemble and directed with precision by Gordon Greenberg. But everyone is such a darned nice gal or fella, there’s no tension or sizzle...They have all been directed and written with no darkness to contrast the constant cheerful light...There are mildly enjoyable musical consolations, but the numbers don’t really take off until late in the first act." Full Review

"The Broadway adaptation of the movie features a hard-working, elegantly costumed cast in one pleasantly diverting musical number after another. But it’ll help to check your sense and sensibility in the coatroom...Bleu’s performance is a revelation...There are other changes from the movie that add up to a complicated lesson in gender and racial cultural politics...One can try to overlook such assaults on current sensibilities for the bliss of a 13-piece orchestra performing Berlin’s melodies." Full Review

"'Holiday Inn' arrives with such a winning smile and lively spring in its step that I'm sorry to say that it doesn't put one in more of a holiday mood...Adaptations are supposed to improve on their source material; this one has got it the other way around...Under Greenberg's direction, everyone in the highly professional cast does their best with punchlines that could use some more punch...A collection of classic elements lacking a strong point of view." Full Review

"It’s slick, synthetic and soulless, a musical full of robotic jokes and devoid of genuine romance. The uncharismatic leading men, Bryce Pinkham and Corbin Bleu, are to Crosby and Astaire what a Whopper is to a New York strip. The only noteworthy thing about 'Holiday Inn' is Megan Lawrence, who makes something extra-special out of the thankless part of the smart-ass second banana who doesn’t get the guy." Full Review

"'Holiday Inn' only occasionally springs to life (usually when Bleu takes center stage and reveals his dashing presence and dancing abilities) and too often feels like another generic jukebox musical or holiday attraction. Its attempts to add comedy by mocking the innocence of the genre reek of desperation. It also lacks the production values and breezy feel of 'White Christmas,' which really did succeed as pure entertainment." Full Review

"Despite doing absolutely nothing new, it's managed to push contemporary theatrical escapism to dizzying, unheard-of heights. Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that. But usually they aim to give you an ounce or two of meat with your foot-tall mound of Cool Whip...Does it matter? Only if you're looking for dramatic cohesion. But if you can set that aside, you will have a grand old time on the most superficial of levels." Full Review

"There is a story line to follow, but it is clear from the start that it exists only to serve as a launching pad for the beautiful songs of Irving Berlin, and to pause when a big dance number is ready to stop the show...A short stay at 'Holiday Inn' provides a welcome getaway...Where else can 'Shaking the Blues Away' transform into a fantastic chorus number featuring tap dancers with jump ropes?...Director Gordon Greenberg has the show running like a well-oiled machine." Full Review

"If you’re in the mood for show that's light-on-its-feet and wall-to-wall Irving Berlin, check into Broadway’s 'Holiday Inn'...It’s familiar and vanilla-flavored fluff, but with tasty sprinkles: a fine cast, tap-happy hoofing and colorfully witty costumes."' Full Review

"An endorphin assault, inducing warm-bath pleasure like no other show since '42nd Street.' The dancing is spectacular, the singing sublime, the visuals are ingenious and, almost incidentally, there’s the cataract of Irving Berlin songs...Corbin Bleu is the discovery, tapping up a storm that recalls the young Sammy Davis Jr...Above all, Denis Jones deploys a smallish troupe of dazzling hoofers with a perfect mix of precision and abandon." Full Review

"Though Greenberg and Hodges' still rely on a feather-weight plot and feel-good nostalgia, it doesn't really matter. You see, the really new thing about their production is how smoothly they've mixed songs from the Irving Berlin canon in with those from the original movie...The production numbers showcase Aleji Vietti's snazzy costumes as well as Mr. Jones's choreography. Jones does particularly notable work with the first act's jump rope routines in 'Shakin'The Blues Away." Full Review

"We only have to sit back and relax. Open our hearts to the beautiful Irving Berlin songs and take in with all the love we have of choreographer Denis Jones’s spectacular dance numbers...Greenberg and Hodge kept the joy and the fun, and got rid of the awkward moments in the film...Return to a place that is warm and optimistic, even if it is a fantasy land filled with lovely music and great tap-dance numbers." Full Review

"This production of 'Holiday Inn' is an instant classic. If you're expecting perfection, this is not your show. 'Holiday Inn' is all about the fun...Even as a formulaic musical comedy, 'Holiday Inn' fulfills the smile quota...Pinkham is a magnificent leading man. Pinkham’s charisma carried the show. Opposite Pinkham, Lora Lee Gayer is delightful...Broadway always needs a show that will do nothing short of entertain. 'Holiday Inn' is that show this season." Full Review

"For those hoping that the Roundabout had ambitions more challenging than perky audience bait to compete with the other moneymaking holiday offerings, well, hope elsewhere. On the other hand, the show does have some first-rate principals, including Bryce Pinkham in Crosby’s singing role and Corbin Bleu in Astaire’s dancing part...If walls had ears, what would Studio 54 make of this hokey, wholesome new occupant? If the walls had eyes, I suspect they would roll." Full Review

"If you are stressed out by the state of the nation, get yourself to Studio 54 where you can return to a simpler, gentler America, at least for 2+ hours...The lively choreography by Denis Jones is well executed by a chorus of 16...The large orchestra and attractive arrangements give Berlin his due. And hearing 'White Christmas' twice more won’t kill you. This Roundabout production may be the musical equivalent of comfort food, but a little comfort is most welcome these days." Full Review

"By the time the show’s big Fourth of July number rolls around, theatergoers will be hoping they skip Labor Day and Thanksgiving to wrap it up quickly with a Santa Claus finale. Slower than that spiritless denouement is the entire first act...Bryce Pinkham and Corbin Bleu aren’t Crosby and Astaire, but they bring the show its few occasional sparks...'Holiday Inn' is that 'let’s put on a show in the barn' kind of musical. Greenberg’s direction rarely succeeds in filling the vast space." Full Review

"Better suited to community theater than to Broadway...Of the lead performers, only Corbin Bleu, a talented dancer, manages to make something of his role...The rest are fine, but not necessarily right for their roles...What you have in the end is the Irving Berlin songs. The problem is, only a couple of them are staged with any panache...The show as a whole is lacking in so many of its elements that it fails to satisfy, even on the light-and-fluffy entertainment scale." Full Review