Who Is ‘The Hotel Who’ For? It’s A Mystery (The NoPro Review)

Sometimes too much is too much and sometimes it’s not enough. Somehow, in the case of The Hotel Who: A Love Story, both happen at once.

Before we get to what’s broken, let’s talk about what actually works. Because if this was a complete disaster it wouldn’t be so frustrating.

On the plus side: the high concept and the central narrative concept is a solid one. It’s a 1950’s musical riff on Romeo & Juliet with some romcom magic thrown in for good measure. The cast is very, very talented — there are a couple of hold overs from The Hotel Who’s 2022 murder mystery version — and can handle both one-to-one encounters and the well choreographed dance theatre numbers. Which makes the structural issues with the show a real bummer, as they get in the way of letting this cast shine.

That’s the second plus: by leaning into their background in dance theatre The Hotel Who creative team have crafted some really enjoyable sequences that left the audience clapping and sometimes singing and dancing along.

If this was the whole of the show, this would be a no-brainer for recommendation.

The problem is everything else. What could be a tight two hours and change of singing, dancing, and character interaction is — for those who pick up the mid-level ticket that has Acts 1, 2, and 3 — a FIVE HOUR affair that tries to tick every box on the immersive checklist. The “Who” in the title could easily be “Who is this for?” and its not clear that the creators have an answer.

The first act “cocktail meet and greet” with the characters had exposition dumps delivered by “wedding rehearsal dinner” style speeches that were drowned out by the other patrons in the hotel bar and even some of the paying VIP guests who chatted over the dialog. I watched one patron get deeply confused as to whether or not the dinner they had shelled out $100 for was indeed the pizza and salad that was made available when others seemed to be eating more sit down fare. Perhaps they just got to the food first. At least the drink tickets worked.

The second act, which had some wonderful small moments with the actors and well choreographed dance theatre numbers, was marred by poor audience flow. I was able to trigger a couple of cut scenes with an item I was given — which is a neat idea in and of itself — but that also meant I missed one of the set pieces. I found myself wondering if I had accidentally pulled an actor out of a number. One big number left folks crowding in a room to the doorway, and one patron could be heard muttering “wish I could see it.”

The third act, which is available as a stand alone ticket, is anchored by a retro band and doubles as a dance party. The cast has dance numbers as part of this and the transition from Act 2 to Act 3 arms patrons with a clue that sets off a very linear puzzle hunt. Our group wrapped it up in about ten minutes, and once we were done asked what was next. We were told that we’d have to wait an hour and a half before the next phase began. I got one reluctant dance out a companion, who by that point was thinking of just leaving.

Nor was the puzzle something that everyone got to really solve. It was more of a race, with the first to get to the proper actor at 10:30pm being the couple who were given the MacGuffin which would complete the story. Only there were more dance numbers, and that couple got bored and left, passing off the prize to my dancing friend. I talked them into giving it to a gal who had come out from Tampa and took her mom to this for her birthday. Those two were having a good time, and she had mentioned she was “very competitive.” I couldn’t imagine coming all that way, picking this out of a hat, and then watching someone else have the big moment after putting in so much effort.

The mom had also expressed some concern that they wouldn’t be able to find anything to eat downtown after the show, since they didn’t know the area and hadn’t gotten enough at dinner.

So what’s the moral of the story?

Well, for starters, The Hotel Who: A Love Story could be a lot more if they were trying a lot less. A tighter focus on the dance numbers and what the flow of guests through the scenes should be would go a long way. Chopping it down from five hours to a tight two or three with the party carrying on after the finale would work wonders. People would still pay a premium, and maybe not leave before it was all over.

As it is, if you want to get a sense of The Hotel Who’s strengths and get the whole “see and be seen” 50’s costume party thing in, an Act 3 ticket, just $50, will take care of all that. The more involved first two acts need an overhaul, and the mystery part comes off as too much of an afterthought.

Somewhere under the kitchen sink is a good show. It could be a real blast if they find it.

The Hotel Who: A Love Story runs through July 15th at The Biltmore Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. Tickets are $50 for Act 3, $150 for the three main acts, and $350 for an overnight stay for one.

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