PicksInSix Review: Holiday Inn - Drury Lane

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The Home of Boy Meets Girl

Just in time to ring in the season comes Irving Berlin’s “Holiday Inn” a refreshingly homespun backstage musical for the entire family chocked full of explosive dance numbers and the iconic tunes that everyone knows and loves from the Berlin songbook. In the capable hands (and feet) of director/choreographer Matt Crowle, with a streamlined book by Gorgon Greenberg and Chad Hodge, and a stellar company from head to toe, Drury Lane’s “Holiday Inn” is a high-wattage hit!

The stage story setup, more or less true to the original 1942 film, follows crooner/composer Jim Hardy (Adrian Aguilar) and his dance partners Ted Hanover (Drew Humphrey) and Lila Dixon (Darilyn Burtley) who have their sights set on the big time. Hardy wants to settle down with Lila in Connecticut, just as Hanover and their agent Danni Reed (Honey West) book a six-week tour. Despite a marriage proposal from Hardy to Lila, the tour proceeds and Hardy is off on a new adventure as a gentleman farmer and owner of Mason Farm. The farm’s caretaker Louise (Danielle Davis) has a plan to help Hardy and set him up with an elementary teacher and the former owner of the farm Linda Mason (Erica Stephan). One thing leads to another, the engagement falls apart and the two suddenly realize they may have something more in common than the fact that the farm is still deep in debt. With few other options, they decide to turn the inn into a holiday show place, but only on holidays.

Miraculously, and only in a musical, the stage show blooms in a week so that as New Year’s Eve rolls around Holiday Inn magically becomes “the home of boy meets girl.” The story sails by after that and serves as a path to one tremendous dance number after another—every one a gem!

In a remarkable, and long overdue, return to the stage after a multi-year absence, Aguilar is phenomenal as Hardy, a steady anchor who adds numerous dimensional layers to the role. The sure-footed hoofer Humphrey has an abundance of talent and more than enough savoir faire to deliver a series of exhilarating dance numbers. The two are paired with Burtley, who gives a captivating standout performance as Lila. When attention turns to the heartwarming Stephan and the budding relationship with Aguilar’s Hardy, sparks really begin to fly. Stephan not only has a beautifully full singing voice that matches perfectly with Aguilar, she also dances effortlessly with Humphrey in multiple numbers. It’s a joy to watch unfold.  

Among the featured musical performances, Davis is hilariously delightful as Louise, leading the Ensemble in a dazzling performance of “Shaking the Blues Away” and there’s more than a few surprises in “Let’s Say It With Firecrackers/Song of Freedom” with a nifty cameo by Nicole Scimeca (who splits the role of Charlie Wilson with Lily Kocourek). There is plenty to be thankful for all night long when the score has hits like “Be Careful, It’s My Heart,” “Cheek to Cheek,” “Blue Skies,” “White Christmas” and “Heat Wave.”

Music Director Linda Madonia and conductor Christopher Sargent deliver the crisp, big band sound of Carey Deadman arrangements. Jeffrey D. Kmiec’s versatile scenic design transitions seamlessly from show stage to New England inn with Lynda Meyers elegant and evocative costumes punctuating every holiday. Lee Fiskness lighting design is enhanced by Bryce Culter’s projections and pin-perfect sound by Ray Nardelli all help to start the New Year right at Drury Lane.  

PHOTO|Brett Beiner

DRURY LANE THEATRE
presents
IRVING BERLIN’S
HOLIDAY INN
through January 9, 2022

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TICKETS

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PicksInSix Review: MAMMA MIA!

“IS THERE A MAN OUT THERE?”

For those of us of a certain age, the Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus music at the core of the ABBA musical phenomenon “Mamma Mia!” is inextricably seared in our consciousness–a critical part of what we were to become in the late ’70s and ’80s. You only had to hear the opening chords of “Dancing Queen” and your hands begin to curl up in anticipation of the piano air quotes that follow. And then there is the image of all those gleeful revelers singing “Super Trooper” into a beer bottle. Those were the days!

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It was not so much a stroke of genius as a shrewd business decision by producers and a creative team that includes Andersson, Ulvaeus and playwright Catherine Johnson to fuse hits from the famous ABBA songbook into a 1999 jukebox musical that opened in London’s West End, then moved on to Toronto, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago before arriving at Broadway’s Winter Garden Theatre.

All of the pre-Broadway runs took place before 9/11, with the Chicago try-out closing in mid-August 2001, causing the “Mamma Mia!” Broadway debut to be swept up in the grim aftermath and unfathomable grief of a city struggling day-to-day to recover. I recall the preview performance I saw in early October 2001 as transformative; past and present suddenly merging, familiar tunes erupting out of the story, bursting together with brilliant and heartfelt memories. I realize now that the show cracked open the caged emotions of that September and light started to seep in. In the face of the reality of those dark days and weeks, the music of “Mamma Mia!” was, and has always been, an escape route.

Surely all jukebox musicals are forever locked into their own specific time and place. Uniquely, “Mamma Mia!”—a fine production of which you can now enjoy at Drury Lane—is set on a remote tropical-island paradise off Greece, which results in its music being the defining anchor, with the spandex and sequins of the era links in the chain. It is an evergreen tale of pop culture, virtually impossible to meddle with unless you want to risk offending any of the estimated 60 million fans of countless national and international productions who know–and love–what comes next.

One of those national tours starred Chicagoan Susie McMonagle, who has returned to Drury Lane in an electrifying performance as Donna, the mom whose three summertime flings produced a daughter, Sophie, played by the equally remarkable Rebecca Hurd. The setup, of course, is that 20 years have passed, Sophie is getting married to Sky (Liam Quealy), and she decides to invite the three lovers from her mom’s (“Dot, dot, dot.”) diary—Sam (Jeff Parker), Harry (Stef Tovar) and Bill (Michael Accardo)—to the wedding. On the way to sorting out who her real father might be, Sophie learns a thing or two about life, love and making dreams come true from Donna’s two swinging pals, Tanya (McKinley Carter) and Rosie (Elizabeth Ledo), dominated by one of ABBA’s iconic musical messages, “Is there a man out there?”

Director William Osetek, music director Roberta Duchak and conductor Christopher Sargent tap an energized and enthusiastic Chicago ensemble from top to bottom. McMonagle’s “Winner Takes It All” is a showstopper, and with all of ABBA’s well known pop-rock ballads and driving dance numbers, choreographed by Jane Lanier on the Jeffrey D. Kmiec set, “Mamma Mia!” has everything you could hope for—a glittering night of musical magic to experience again and again.

PHOTOS|Brett Beiner

DRURY LANE THEATRE
Presents
MAMMA MIA!
through April 14th

100 Drury Lane
Oakbrook Terrace, IL
(630) 530-0111

WEBSITE
TICKETS

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

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PicksInSix Theater Review - Drury Lane "Beauty and the Beast"

BOOK-BOUND BELLE CHARMS BROODING BEAST

Just when you thought that we could not be more different, along comes a beautifully, rich production of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” now playing at Drury Lane Theatre, to provide clear proof that we are really not that different at all. Everyone of us, just like the Beast and his manor full of minions, need a little love before it’s too late and the bloom is off the rose. That includes the sweet and lovely Belle, who spends every waking moment with her face buried in a book, a sort of shield to deflect awkward situations and ward off unwanted advances. It all adds up to a lot of Disney-stylized drama that make this visually-stunning, live-action fairy tale, tick-tock-tick all night long.

“Beauty and the Beast” was Disney’s first Broadway venture almost a quarter of a century ago, which is reason enough to bring a teapot, candle, clock and feather-duster back to life in the surefire holiday hit. Directed at Drury Lane by Alan Souza, with choreography by Ron De Jesus, the musical is an expanded version by the same team responsible for the original 1991 animated film classic — book by Linda Woolverton, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by the late Howard Ashman and Tim Rice.

In case you do not have a family member, or know anyone under thirty-five, to ask, the book-bound heroine Belle (Erica Stephan) charms the brooding Beast (Brandon Contreras) at the center of a love story that challenges us to see people for who they truly are. Belle represents the dreamer in us all, holding in her hands the key to transforming the Beast who has been dwelling in a dark, introspective place for a long time. Words matter to the fearless Belle and Stephan is perfect, delivering gorgeous renditions of “Home” and “A Change In Me.” The magically dark and mysterious Kevin Depinet set, a series of grand staircases and multiple levels framed in the ever-present rose, allows for multiple scenes including a lofty, strategic setting for the commanding Contreras to render the powerful Act I anthem “If I Can’t Love Her.”

On the more sinister side of the tale, the comic foil Gaston (Mark Banik), and his side-kick Lefou (Paul Michael Thompson), slink and slam along in their single-minded pursuit to corner Belle’s affections. As events unfold, Belle’s father Maurice (Mark David Kaplan) stumbles into the manor where a clever cache of spirited souls dwell — Lumiere (Tony Carter), Cogsworth (Nick Cosgrove), Babette (Sierra Schnack), Mrs. Potts (Bri Sudia) and her son Chip (Sophie Ackerman), Madam de la Grande Bouche (Catherine Smitko) and Monsieur D’Argue (Billy Rude). With the curse in place and time growing short, something must be done to break the spell. But they are all intimidated by the Beast and his house rules, that is until Belle arrives to make a bargain for her father’s freedom and give them reason to hope.

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The company numbers are terrific — including the opener “Belle,” “Something There,” and the show-stopper “Be Our Guest,” with the enormous talent of Carter, Sudia, Cosgrove and Schnack leading the way. Sudia is everyone’s favorite teapot, providing one of the night’s most memorable moments with a lush and lovely performance of the title song.

The Drury Lane Orchestra is in top form under the direction of Christopher Sargent. Belle’s stunning yellow gown, and all of the marvelously detailed costuming, is the work of designer Ryan Park. With Ryan O’Gara’s lighting and a dizzying array of ingenious properties from designer Cassy Schillo, “Beauty and the Beast” has something for everyone.  

PHOTOS|Brett Beiner

DRURY LANE THEATRE
Presents
DISNEY’S
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
through January 27th, 2019
100 Drury Lane 
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181 
(630) 530-0111 
 

WEBSITE

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

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