By Emily R. Zarevich, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Drury Lane Theatre, located at 2269 New Street, is a cozy, intimate venue with warm lighting, a fully stocked drink and snack bar, and rounded tables situated closely enough so that you can turn and address your neighbour no matter how you rotate your head. It’s a community theatre, so its attendees usually know each other and arrive together in friendly groups. There’s laughter and familiarity bouncing off the walls, and everybody anticipates something special, something that only happens on a predetermined date. It has every element of a family gathering or a holiday. That’s why it’s the perfect setting for a production of a beloved holiday-themed classic, Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn.
Burlington is known for being a city where people settle down and find their happiness among quieter surroundings when the noise and chaos of a big city such as Toronto or Ottawa doesn’t suit them. This musical’s main character, Jim Hardy, is such an individual. He’s had enough of New York City and wants nothing more than a life of domestic bliss on a farm in Connecticut with his fiancée, Lila Dixon. He’s ready for a big change. But his perky optimism blinds him to just how incompatible he and his lover are. His eyes are filled with the unobstructed blue skies of country life, and hers are filled with the glittering stars of show business.
They’re not a good match.
Abandoned by Lila, left to a single existence of drudgery on the farm, Jim makes the best of it, forming in the process a promising relationship with the lovely schoolteacher, Linda Mason. Realizing that he and his circle of new and old friends need opportunities to allow their creativity to flourish, Hardy comes up with the concept of the Holiday Inn, which offers specialized shows only on public holidays featuring both imported and local talent, including Linda. Finally, his farmhouse is good for something other than growing pathetically undersized vegetables.
Drury Lane’s Holiday Inn features nothing but local talent. Making his official debut at the Drury, Jacob M. Wagman plays Jim Hardy to excellence, embellishing a protagonist full of energy and talent but also hindered by that fear of abandonment that always accompanies insecurity. Lucas Chabot also debuts in Holiday Inn, taking on the role of Ted Hanover, with whom Jim (mostly) enjoys a complicated friendship and rivalry.
Chabot’s Ted is charming to a threatening degree, as his character’s aim is to steal Linda away from Jim for a shot at the big time in Hollywood as a dance duo. Samantha Lindgren is the endearing, saucy, and ambitious Lila Dixon, who has little time for romance or farming when her performing prospects are so high. And Michelle Wagman stuns as Linda Mason, a cheerful but lonely soul with everything to gain and everything to lose when new opportunities are laid before her. Other casting highlights include Carolyn Campell as the clownish handywoman Louise, and young Eli Gougeon as Charlie Winslow, the snarky messenger boy. Both are responsible for many of the laughs drawn from the audience. Every character brings their own speciality and charm.
Drury Lane’s Holiday Inn is bouncy, bright, diverting, and dedicated to just being fun. It’s good old-fashioned Broadway theatre, without having to buy a plane ticket or hunt around for a passport to travel all the way to New York City. The show people of the Halton Region, just like Jim Hardy and company, are capable of making the theatre happen within their own travelling distances. “White Christmas,” a song that everybody knows, is a highlight of the show, and guaranteed to draw powerful feelings of nostalgia as we move forward into a climate-altered world where white Christmases are no longer guaranteed. Michelle Wagman in particular has a voice that could charm the snow right out of the sky and onto the ground. She is a shining star and has a presence that seems specifically destined for a long and prosperous singing career.
Drury Lane Theatre should be proud of itself for its resourcefulness. While the original film and past Broadway productions have enjoyed the advantages of wide, elaborate stages and sets, Drury Lane Theatre successfully tells the same story with a much smaller stage and much more limited set pieces. There were, at times, moments in the show where the actors seemed a little cramped during a dance number, but this did not hinder their performances. The ensemble cast was well-coordinated and adapted to their space. Drury Lane also makes stylistic plot changes from the film that some may find unexpected, but such things are always done when film translates into theatre. Nothing fundamental is lost. It’s still a touching story about the ordeals and the rewards of carving out your own path in life, with nothing but your own heart influencing you.
The show, already a bona fide success, could have benefitted even further from more explorations of the dynamics between the characters. In particular, a duet or more scenes together with Samantha Lindgren’s Lila Dixon and Michelle Wagman’s Linda Mason would have been a treat. Both actresses are outstandingly talented, and their arcs overlap in ways worth exploring more deeply. They represent the two female archetypes, the angelic wife-material sweetheart who wants to accommodate everyone, and the heartbreaking career woman, careless about other people’s feelings. They are the Betty and Veronica to Jim Hardy’s Archie. One’s his perfect woman and the other is the one he thought was perfect. There’s an unwritten song there, something along those lines. Another inspired addition would be a song from snarky Charlie, who is an audience favourite and a good voice of reason when all the adults around him seem to have their heads in the clouds.
Holiday Inn is set to be the highlight of this month of November which is, ironically, without any major public holidays here in Canada. Tickets for Holiday Inn, which runs until Nov. 24, can be bought directly from the website. Tickets are also available for the theatre’s upcoming lineup of shows, including Beauty and the Beast Christmas Pantomime, and My Corner of the Sky. Just like people who staff the Holiday Inn, the Drury Lane crew is committed to keeping the people of Burlington entertained all throughout the year.
