Holiday Reviews

Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended

"...For fans of the late Richard Greenberg, his final work, "Holiday," is an unfettered Goodman Theatre delight, a painful but not-to-be-missed reminder that nobody, but nobody, in the American theater better understood the ennui of the adult children of the American urban rich or had a firmer grasp on the existential paradox of their condition. Other playwrights usually want to take them down, especially if that is whence they came. Greenberg didn't just understand them; he offered them tenderness."

Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended

"...With the amiable, elevated Goodman production of "Holiday," though, we get something that seems extremely rare: a well-known title - produced four times previously by the Goodman and remembered fondly by screwball comedy buffs for the Cary Grant-Katharine Hepburn film version - that is truly, aggressively and yet still respectfully "adapted" from the Philip Barry 1928 original by Richard Greenberg. (Thank the expiration of the play's copyright, which spurred the Barry estate to commission something sufficiently original to be a newly protected, authorized version.)"

Windy City Times - Highly Recommended

"...But Greenberg's smart contemporary retrofitting of Holiday certainly justifies the effort. Greenberg captures all of the involving romantic plot points of Barry's original, while also adding enough razor-sharp comic and dramatic observations to critically examine the mores of today's ultra-wealthy."

Talkin Broadway - Recommended

"...Goodman Theatre's Centennial Season continues with Holiday, Richard Greenberg's adaptation of Phillip Barry's 1928 play. Greenberg's update of the play, set on New Year's Eve 2019, is significant. With Robert Falls directing, it loses none of the sparkle and sharp humor of the original, even as it introduces some more serious explorations of the underlying class-related themes. Although the show doesn't quite fulfill some of the promise of the first act, the production is gorgeously rendered and the cast fires on all cylinders."

Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended

"...Pour one out for Richard Greenberg, one of the great American playwrights of the last several decades, who, even after his death last year, has graced us with a stellar update of a screwball gem from 1928. Philip Barry's Holiday has been performed countless times by theatres all over the world, including four times by the Goodman. It was also adapted into two movies, one of which, from 1938, is a much-adored classic with Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant in the principal roles."

Let's Play Theatrical Reviews - Highly Recommended

"...I love classic movies and am a frequent subscriber to TCM. One of my favorites is the 1938 film adaptation of Philip Barry's "Holiday," starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, considered two of the greatest, most iconic actors in Hollywood history; so I was eagerly anticipating Goodman Theater's adaptation of Richard Greenberg's play "Holiday," directed by Robert Falls, and it was absolutely worth the wait."

Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended

"...For the first opening of 2026 for The Goodman , they have brought back a modern, refreshed, version of “Holiday” written by Phillip Barry as adapted by Richard Greenberg. Going back in time ( almost 100 years ago) it was a film by George Cukor and the perfect vehicle for Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. The story is quite simple. It is a love story that has a young man, who meets a young woman, while on a “Holiday”, and they appear to fall in love."

Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended

"...Technically this production is especially awesome. Walt Spangler's stunning, minutely-detailed set design, straight out of Architectural Digest, invokes applause when the Act I curtain rises. His opulent great room is just that: Great! Cold, a bit sterile, but tastefully decorated and elegantly furnished, Spangler's scenic design screams "Money and breeding!" Then, for Act II, the designer has created the antithesis look-a magical, mystical fantasyland of a playroom that's highlighted by antique toys, colorful artwork and shining stars painted everywhere. This is the room that the late Mrs. Seton created before her untimely death. Where Act I is light, airy and vapid, Act II is warm, welcoming and the embodiment of joy and creativity. Bravo to Mr. Spangler!"

Buzz Center Stage - Highly Recommended

"...Holiday is a play written by Philip Barry in 1928 before the tragic stock market crash of 1929. It has been made into two movies, most notably in 1938 starring Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. This adaptation, artfully authored by Richard Greenberg, has brought a case study in the class system and its relationship with money and assets is not only thought-provoking but clever."

Third Coast Review - Somewhat Recommended

"...This production also marks Robert Falls’s return to the Goodman after retiring as its artistic director. Over his long career, Falls has delivered some of the most vital, muscular work on this stage, which makes the dead air of this staging baffling. Comedy—especially Barry’s brand of brittle, high?society comedy—needs a tight ship. Precision in pacing and a real connection among the ensemble are essential. Here, the ship wobbles."

Entertaining Chicago - Highly Recommended

"...Sophisticated and bitingly funny, Goodman Theatre’s new production of Holiday, about members of a dysfunctional rich family trying to survive each other, has spectacular sets and an excellent cast."

Chicago Theater and Arts - Highly Recommended

"...“Holiday” at The Goodman is a fresh world-premiere adaptation of the classic boy meets girl – – boy meets girl’s sister. A romcom by Richard Greenberg, it is based on the original 1928 version by playwright Philip Barry and features an outstanding cast."

Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended

"...First Act Holiday is funny and fun. It doesn't take itself too seriously. It pokes and teases at the lack of perspective that so often comes along with being fantastically wealthy and makes the not-too-subtle point that it's better to be an authentic person who finds love than a greedy jerk consumed by the pursuit of the next billion. There's a message in there somewhere, but it's wrapped in hilarity, so you're not getting hit over the head with it."

PicksInSix - Highly Recommended

"...The scintillating Robert Falls directed Goodman Theatre world premiere production of the late Richard Greenberg’s stellar final work—a fresh, funny and thoroughly engaging adaptation of Phillip Barry’s 1928 play “Holiday”—may just be the best production of a promising young season of terrific offerings in Chicago. The timeless love story now playing through March 1 on the Albert Theater stage features an exceptional ensemble and a brilliant Walt Spangler scenic design that is a sight to behold."

Allie and the After Party - Highly Recommended

"...Like any play written about upper class society people, there's always a tendency (for me at least) to go into the show thinking "Oh great, another play about rich people's problems." So while this work technically is about rich people and their problems, it questions them, their values, and how you care about someone. There's a genuineness and realness to the character's emotions that these actors bring. So while it may start off as another rich family not acknowledging their privileges, it turns deeper as the mirror turns on them to look at themselves."

BroadwayWorld - Highly Recommended

"...HOLIDAY is a joyous affair that delivers on what it promises: An escape in the form of a superbly acted romantic comedy on stage. Greenberg’s script offers a delightful blend of classic tropes, contemporary references, and earnest character development. The Goodman’s ensemble — with Gangel in the lead and Taylor as a major supporting player — treat the assignment with aplomb."

NewCity Chicago - Recommended

"...What makes “Holiday”’s nearly two-hour runtime pass so quickly is not in the surprises its plot hides (one nearly knows who Mr. Case will end up with from the first scene), but in an ensemble which acts with such conviction (and modernity) that—and I mean this in the most complimentary way possible to a theater—the production often feels much more fit for television than the stage. In a recorded television show, each actor has several hundred takes to get the delivery of a line right; to sit on a couch just the way an heiress to one-billion dollars might."