Holiday Inn cast takes a deserved bow.

'Holiday Inn' Thoroughly Entertaining at MMT

I there was a surprise with Mill Mountain Theatre's live production of the 1942 movie "Holiday Inn" last night, it was in the starring role. Although Andrew Mauney and Elbi Cespedes danced and sang the Bing Crosby and Fred Astair parts admirably, it was tiny dancer Mychal Phillips who ran away with the lion's share of the attention in this lively and engaging production.

Ms. Phillips was not a lead. She played a supporting role as the woman who took care of the details at the Holiday Inn, a hotel in Connecticut that featured a live stage show at various holidays during the year. She is a full-on dancer with an Ethel Merman-powerful voice that filled the room every time she opened her talented mouth. She chewed scenery like a whole team of mice.

Among the other principal characters were professionals Sarah Colt as Linda (the love interest), and Caitlin McAvoy as Lila the dance partner with ambitions of her own.

While the professional cast did yoeman's duty, Ms. Phillips was the unintended star, sharing that spot with director Kristin Brooks Sandler and Ginger Poole, producing artistic director, and with perhaps the biggest treat of all, costume designer Marissa Danielle Duricko. Ms. Duricko is a director and costume designer at The Ritz Theatre & Performing Arts Center.  Her costuming set a standard for the rest of the play--excellence in abundance.

I don't know how many costume changes were made during the two-hour play, but there were a lot and they ranged from the drab dress of a school teacher, through glittering stage musicals and even wedding attire. Each change threatened to bring gasps of appreciation from an audience that didn't give a standing ovation at the end, I think, because it was almost stunned by what it had just witnessed. Roanoke audiences give standing Os for nearly anything. The lack of one here might have been the best compliment of all.

Let us not bypass the contribution of the live orchestra, directed by Christopher Littlefield and musicians (all Roanokers) JT Fauber, Mike Havens, Evin Bowman and Teresa Hedrick, which filled the hall with tunes like "White Christmas" and "Easter Parade," some of Erving Berlin's best.

This is one of the better efforts by Mill Mountain Theatre. Get ready to be entertained. For tickets, call 540-342-5740 or visit millmountain.org. Tickets cost $26.50 to $47.26 (with online fees).