WELCOME FROM THE PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR elcome to Paper Mill Playhouse’s 80th anniversary season and to our toe-tapping production of WIrving Berlin’s Holiday Inn! I’m delighted to welcome back director (and writer) Gordon Greenberg, who is remembered here for 1776 and The Baker’s Wife, as well as choreographer Denis Jones, a Paper Mill regular (Mary Poppins, Honeymoon in Vegas), who garnered a Tony Award nomination when this show played Broadway two years ago. Get ready to be dazzled by this amazing company and this score of beloved Irving Berlin classics, celebrating a whole year’s worth of holidays in a mere couple of hours! If you missed out on our magnificent season opener, Paper Mill Playhouse received the 2016 The Color Purple, I also welcome you for the first time to Regional Theatre Tony Award. bask in our sumptuous new theater seats! We completed a major auditorium overhaul this past summer including myriad improvements both cosmetic and technical. The entire beautification project was generously funded by one donor, trustee Carolyn Ferolito. Please join me in sharing our utmost appreciation for the Ferolito family! You can secure your own piece of Paper Mill’s legacy by dedicating one of these new seats with an elegantly engraved plaque. This seat naming opportunity can represent a lasting way to honor a loved one, commemorate a special occasion, give a truly unique gift, or simply pay tribute to your years of enjoyment at Paper Mill Playhouse. Please take a brochure in the lobby or visit PaperMill.org/grabaseat to grab your new seat today. In other renovation news, our multitalented Executive Chef Holly Guber spent the summer creating an extraordinary cocktail lounge upstairs at the F. M. Kirby Carriage House, which we are calling The Loft. It’s a relaxing, cozy-chic place to enjoy a beverage before evening performances since the restaurant and main bar are so often full! Please stop by, say hello, and have a drink. (I can’t miss this opportunity to also highly recommend dining with Holly and her first-class staff if you haven’t yet tasted the exquisite seasonal offerings at the Carriage House Restaurant.) As we approach the final days of 2018, I humbly invite you to consider Paper Mill Playhouse in your year- end charitable giving and in your estate plans. As you may know, the income we earn in ticket sales pays for only half of our operating budget, so as a not-for-profit arts organization, we cannot accomplish all the work we strive to achieve—both on the stage and through education and outreach activities throughout the state—without the generosity of donors like you. And the timing couldn’t be better: we are thrilled to announce that all new and increased donations will be matched up to $150,000 by Paper Mill trustee and new Education and Outreach Sponsor, The Goren Family and Harmony Helper. For information on how to donate, visit PaperMill.org/support-us. Also in the spirit of giving, the Paper Mill family is delighted to partner once again with the volunteer organization Jersey Cares for our annual winter coat drive. If you have new or gently used coats taking up closet space, please donate your winter gear for your New Jersey neighbors in need. Collection bins will be in the lobby until December 30. Thank you very much. Finally, I would like to salute our longtime season sponsor Investors Bank as well as Bank of America for its sponsorship of this production. And now it’s time to pack away your troubles and check in to Holiday Inn—enjoy the show! Mark S. Hoebee Producing Artistic Director PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE 9 PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE 13 PRODUCTION NOTE ike many families, mine delighted in watching the film Holiday Inn whenever it showed up on L television. Whatever the time of year, it suddenly felt like a holiday. The film itself was a loyal friend that had become not only a part of our traditions, but an integral part of American culture. Indeed, it explores quintessentially American ideas: ambition and its impact on friendship, reality versus its reflection on screen, and the value of personal gumption. Most important of all, it celebrates show business and the joys of live performance. In fact, Irving Berlin first conceivedHoliday Inn as a live stage show and wrote many songs that were not ultimately used in the film. So, the concept of adapting it as a musical for the stage seemed like a natural from the start. When we began writing the stage version, we first moved the story to 1946, the period after the Second World War had ended and the country was entering a time of great prosperity and optimism. Jim Hardy, our main character, embodies that postwar can-do spirit, and his journey underlines the central theme of the show—how to balance work and life in a meaningful way. The irony is that, in Jim’s decision to leave show business for “real life,” he inadvertently ends up creating the basis for his greatest show business success yet—the inn. And when his inn becomes the subject of a movie, he is suddenly left with the choice between quietly living his reality and living a phony but lucrative Hollywood version of it. This choice felt very relevant to our contemporary lives and provided the basis for the questions asked by virtually all the characters in the show about where they belong. Ultimately, our Holiday Inn is about the beauty of being true to yourself—living simply and honestly and finding rewards in doing what you love on your own terms. In an increasingly polarized and fragmented world, the show celebrates our individuality, while reminding us that we are more alike than different. That’s what I truly hope audiences take away. That, and of course all the joys of a big dance musical. The sets, the costumes, the cast, and the hullabaloo of high-stepping tap dancers flying through the air against a gorgeous Irving Berlin score makesHoliday Inn a great big party. And isn’t that what holidays are all about? Gordon Greenberg Director and Coauthor PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE 15 RECIPIENT OF THE REGIONAL THEATRE TONY AWARD® A not-for-profit organization under the direction of MARK S. HOEBEE Producing Artistic Director presents IRVING BERLIN’S HOLIDAY INN Music & Lyrics by Book by IRVING BERLIN GORDON GREENBERG & CHAD HODGE Starring (in alphabetical order) PAIGE FAURE JORDAN GELBER ANN HARADA JEFF KREADY HAYLEY PODSCHUN NICHOLAS RODRIGUEZ Scenic Design Costume Design Lighting Design ANNA LOUIZOS ALEJO VIETTI JEFF CROITER Sound Design Hair & Wig Design MATT KRAUS CHARLES G. LAPOINTE Orchestrations Vocal & Dance Arrangements Additional Dance & Vocal Arrangements LARRY BLANK SAM DAVIS BRUCE POMAHAC Casting Production Stage Manager Press Representative TELSEY + COMPANY VICTORIA NAVARRO RICHARD HILLMAN LAURA WADE PUBLIC RELATIONS Music Director SHAWN GOUGH Choreographed by DENIS JONES Directed by GORDON GREENBERG MAJOR SPONSOR HOLIDAY INN is presented through special arrangement with R&H Theatricals: www.rnh.com. Originally produced on Broadway by Roundabout Theatre Company; Todd Haimes, Artistic Director/CEO; Julia C. Levy, Executive Director; Sydney Beers, General Manager; Steve Dow, Chief Administrative Officer; produced in association with Universal Stage Productions. Originally produced by Goodspeed Musicals; Michael P. Price, Executive Producer. Directed on Broadway by Gordon Greenberg. PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE 17 THE CAST (in order of appearance) The Cat’s Meow Dancers...............COLIN BRADBURY, TRICIA DESARIO*, TAYLOR FIELDS*, BERKLEA GOING, TRAVIS WARD-OSBORNE, JOHN T. WOLFE Jim Hardy ..............................................................................................NICHOLAS RODRIGUEZ Ted Hanover ..............................................................................................................JEFF KREADY Lila Dixon ..................................................................................................................PAIGE FAURE Danny .................................................................................................................JORDAN GELBER Charlie Winslow ....................................................................................................JIAN HARRELL† Charlie Winslow (at certain performances) ........................................................ AIDAN ALBERTO† Linda Mason ................................................................................................ HAYLEY PODSCHUN Louise ...................................................................................................................... ANN HARADA KENO Radio Host .........................................................................................JULIANE GODFREY Radio Quartet .............................................................JULIE KAVANAGH, CLIFTON SAMUELS, KARL SKYLER URBAN, SCARLETT WALKER Assistant Director ............................................................................................CLIFTON SAMUELS Director ................................................................................................................ JOSHUA ISRAEL Ensemble........................................ JORDAN BEALL, COLIN BRADBURY, TRICIA DESARIO*, TAYLOR FIELDS*, KELLY GLEASON*, JULIANE GODFREY, BERKLEA GOING, JOSHUA ISRAEL, JULIE KAVANAGH, CLIFTON SAMUELS, JT TEELING*, KARL SKYLER URBAN, AMY VAN NORSTRAND, SCARLETT WALKER, TRAVIS WARD-OSBORNE, JOHN T. WOLFE Understudies Understudies never substitute for listed players unless announced at the time of the appearance. For Jim Hardy: CLIFTON SAMUELS; for Ted Hanover: COLIN BRADBURY; for Linda Mason: