Holiday Inn (Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54) Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin book by Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge

A reworking of the 1942 movie of the same name starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, Holiday Inn is the feel-good, Busby Berkeley-ish confection that is currently ringing out with the sounds of tap shoes and classic Irving Berlin songs on 54th Street.

Taking on the role of the sensitive singer, Jim Hardy, is the gorgeously voiced Bryce Pinkham.  I have seen him in other things, most memorably A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, but this role really lets his pipes soar.  Corbin Bleu is terrific as the semi-caddish hoofer, Ted Hanover.

Holiday Inn is the perfect antidote to what is going on in the world around us.  Lose yourself for two and a half hours in nostalgia, wonderful whimsical songs to which you know the words, old-fashioned love stories and a “gee-whiz gang, let’s put on a show” vibe.

Holiday Inn won’t change a thing but it may lighten your heart, lift your mood and make you want to dig those long forgotten tap shoes out of the box in the attic.

Take your grandmother, your up-tight aunt, your five-year old.  All will feel welcome and wrapped in the Holiday spirit.