Posted: 11/25/17 at 7:31am
Anyone watch? I know people were divided on this when it was on Broadway, but I thought it was really sweet and wholesome fun. Felt the same way watching last night.
Posted: 11/25/17 at 8:11am
I actually enjoyed the broadcast more than I did in the theatre. For some reason I thought it was kind of meh when I saw it live. The afternoon I saw it, Amanda Rose was on for Linda Mason. She was very good.
Posted: 11/25/17 at 8:30am
Posted: 11/25/17 at 9:25am
Posted: 11/25/17 at 12:05pm
Posted: 11/25/17 at 12:14pm
Anyone know if it will be repeated? I forgot to record it last night...
Posted: 11/25/17 at 12:25pm
BroadwayMan5 said: "Anyone know if it will be repeated? I forgot to record it last night..."
Search your TV listings. Each PBS station is different, and 2 of the 3 I receive have repeats scheduled in the next 2 weeks.
Posted: 11/25/17 at 3:11pm
Posted: 11/26/17 at 2:09am
Handsome production, inventive choreography, talented cast - but the book was god awful. It fell into the uncanny valley between camp - like The Boy Friend or No, No Nanette - and a real book musical. The jokes were old-fashioned bad dad jokes. It was painful to sit through.
For a book that bad, the numbers - and there are lots - had better be knock-your-socks-off great. And a couple of them are (particularly "Shakin' the Blues Away" ) . And Corbin Bleu sold every number he was in to the rafters. But Bryce Pinkham - totally miscast. Nice voice, but the part needed a charm infusion to make him less of a sad sack. I mean, no wonder he kept losing girlfriends - at least that plot point was believable.
That being said, half my family enjoyed it; I think for them the fun musical numbers sold it. The other half thought it embodied everything they hate about musicals (phoniness, songs coming out of nowhere, etc).
The video production was very good. Much better than Falsettos, which while it was much better material, the audio and visual capture of the Lincoln Center revival was bottom of the barrel. Not quite as good as She Loves Me, which was also shot live.
Still, the gold standard in live capture is last year's Newsies - not surprising since they did three days of close ups, on stage and overhead shots which they cut in to the actual live taping with the audience.
Of course, I am grateful to have Holiday Inn on video and I'm sure that this presentation will enhance the property and encourage local and amateur productions.
Updated On: 11/26/17 at 02:09 AM
Posted: 11/26/17 at 9:16am
I liked the show, but didn't love it.
I don't know what it was like sitting in the theater, but for this broadcast, I was very disappointed in the sound production. There were too many instances where the ensemble vocals were lost because they weren't mic'ed as well as the leads, and the vocals from those wearing head mics were overly predominant. Most production numbers came off sounding more like "The Alto's Lament" rather than the full, balanced vocals they were written to be.
I didn't really care for the casting, even though I thought Corbin Bleu's dancing was outstanding. I didn't feel like any of the leads showed any chemistry with their fellow actors that made me believe they were in love at all. Everything felt very flat and two-dimensional - like the set. I think that with a book that's so contrived and bland, the actors need to bring more to the stage than just what's written on the page. I didn't get that with this cast.
The tap numbers were GREAT, though!
My favorite part of the telecast was the behind-the-scenes segment shown after the show.
Posted: 11/26/17 at 9:20am
CallMeAl2 said: "But Bryce Pinkham - totally miscast. Nice voice, but the part needed a charm infusion to make him less of a sad sack. I mean, no wonder he kept losing girlfriends - at least that plot point was believable."
Agreed 
. (Although I didn't care for his voice, as you did.)
Posted: 11/26/17 at 9:55am
Loved every second of it. I saw it last year and so wonderful to see it again. It's just pure entertainment and fun.
Posted: 11/26/17 at 10:12am
This is probably the only show I seriously thought about leaving. It was just awful, and I like Bryce Pinkham a lot.
Posted: 11/26/17 at 10:37am
nealb1 said: "Loved every second of it."
Me, too.
Updated On: 11/26/17 at 10:37 AM
Posted: 11/26/17 at 11:26am
White Christmas the Musical Ver 2...oops, I mean Holiday Inn :) is available on PBS.org to stream. Just watched it. I preferred White Christmas, though this was a pleasant way to spend a grey lazy Sunday morning recovering from the excess food and family the past few days.
Reading the credits though, four people are listed as “Ingest”. What is that job? I Googled and all I got are expected references to eating.
Updated On: 11/26/17 at 11:26 AM
Posted: 11/26/17 at 8:54pm
John Adams said: "CallMeAl2 said: "But Bryce Pinkham - totally miscast. Nice voice, but the part needed a charm infusion to make him less of a sad sack. I mean, no wonder he kept losing girlfriends - at least that plot point was believable."
Agreed . (Although I didn't care for his voice, as you did.)
"
Can somebody explain Pinkham's voice to me? Occasionally he sounded warm and wonderful, but most of the time he sounded like he thought he was playing Dr. Dillamond in WICKED. I couldn't divine any pattern: some of his sustained tones were great, most were dominated by the rapid vibrato. So I can't explain what he thought he was doing, but I cringed every time he started to sing.
Mr. Bleu, on the other hand and though supposedly the "dancer", always sounded great!
***
NO show needs 17 (or whatever--I lost count) dance numbers, unless it is billed as a formal ballet. If the choreography seemed inventive at first (it didn't to me, but some poster above liked it), it had worn out its welcome some time before the Easter bonnets appeared. To me, it just seemed like aimless movement as a substitute for honest emotion. (The exception again being Mr. Bleu.) Theme-park show on Broadway.
Posted: 11/26/17 at 9:45pm
Reading the credits though, four people are listed as “Ingest”. What is that job? I Googled and all I got are expected references to eating.
I could be wrong but I think it might have something to do with marketing.
Posted: 11/26/17 at 9:46pm
Posted: 11/27/17 at 8:11am
^^^
Well said. (Obviously I agreed with your negative comments above, but I also agree with your positive appraisals and the appreciation for PBS.)
Posted: 11/27/17 at 9:19am
Tried to watch it. Made it about 30 minutes in and then my wife and I decided to just watch the Bing Crosby/Fred Astaire movie instead. The musical was bland, bloated, and padded to within an inch of its life. It had no narrative momentum because of the way unnecessary musical numbers were shoe-horned in. And the cast couldn't land a joke if their collective lives depended on it. I would have been sorely disappointed if I had spent $100+ on a ticket to see this on Broadway.
Posted: 11/27/17 at 9:58pm
Made it a good ways into Inn and had to quit. The classic Hollywood musicals worked because of their stars. You didn't need character development when you had a personality. Watching nondescript chorus folk belt and tap these songs gets dull fast. Midway through the Christmas decorating number I asked "who are these people?" Some are underplaying. Some are putting on broad character voices. Just what "world" is this show set in?
The leading ladies have charm, and Megan Lawrence is trying her darndest to carry the show, but Bryce and Corbin's characters are chamless creeps. Once they started playing tug of war with the prickly ingenue it became too unpleasant for me to continue.
Updated On: 11/27/17 at 09:58 PM
Posted: 11/28/17 at 12:39am
