Holiday Inn @ Stolen Shakespeare Guild

—Jan Farrington

Happy Holidays to you!

The hard-working folk of Stolen Shakespeare Guild deck the halls with nostalgia in Irving Berlin’s tuneful Holiday Inn. Based on the 1942 film with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, it’s a musical “just like the ones we used to know”--and then some.

This version of the show (it had ac NYC premiere in 2016) has a spruced-up book by the team of Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge, who wisely replace some outdated holiday songs with new picks from Berlin’s prolific half-century (plus!) career.

The story line is the same corny-but-fun stuff: Jim (the singer) and Ted (the dancer) both want Lila, the glamour girl of their trio. Jim works fast: he gives Lila a ring, but forgets to tell her he’s leaving show biz to be a farmer up in Connecticut. Ted talks her into going on tour with him instead.

What’s true love going to do with this hot mess? Why, add in some colorful, scene-stealing country characters; a crew of New York show folk invading the farm; a noisy agent with a suit from Guys and Dolls; and one pretty schoolteacher who might change Jim’s dreams altogether. You can see this plot coming a mile away, but who cares?

SSG co-founders Lauren and Jason Morgan direct the show, and Lauren Morgan stars as Linda Mason, the small-town teacher who grew up on the farm Jim just bought. She’s the best reason to see the show, her bell-clear voice a pleasure to hear again in “White Christmas,” “Let’s Take an Old-Fashioned Walk,” and “Nothing More to Say.” Nolan Shaver, whether solo or dueting with Morgan, is pleasantly tuneful as farmer Jim, and Jake Kelly Harris has some comic moments as self-centered hoofer Ted. Live-wired Nancy Lamb (as housekeeper Louise) and bouncy young Saffron Makoutz (as pigtailed messenger Charlie) keep the comedy coming, as do A. Solomon Abah Jr. as agent Danny Reed, and Mattie Lillian Davis as the flighty Lila. (“I can’t live out here with all these vegetables.”)

The show creaks more than a bit at times: harmonies wobble, and the dancers range from tentative to terrific. But Monica Glenn’s choreography is nicely tuned-in to the ‘40s vibe of the show, and designer Kari Makoutz pulls off an array of period costumes with real skill—everything from “turkey” bustiers (for a Thanksgiving nightclub number) to lovely mid-century coats and hats.

So sure, it isn’t Broadway, but Holiday Inn has plenty of pleasures to offer, especially for those of us who can’t stay away from the old shows and their songs.

We know who we are.

Holiday Inn runs through December 19; stolenshakespeareguild.org