THEATER REVIEW : Musical Set In Wartime No Winner : Yule: A musical about a USO troupe entertaining GIs overseas on Christmas during World War II sounds like a good idea but it fails to jell.

At first glance, “The USO Hollywood Christmas Caravan” seems to be ideal theatrical fare for the holiday season. The Daniel Yurgaitis/Julie Shannon musical centers on a group of Hollywood actors and singers who entertain troops during World War II. The premise alone evokes an undeniably charitable spirit; these performers don’t have to spend their Christmas Eve at the front lines, but they want to give something--a great show--to the boys in the trenches.

Unfortunately, the show itself isn’t great. It isn’t even good. Yurgaitis’ decision to write a wartime Christmas revue may have been on target, but this production is a significant misfire. “Caravan,” which opened Saturday at The Theatre in Old Town, suffers from both a severe lack of imagination from the creative team and a dearth of song-and-dance skills from the six-person cast.

The play is set in 1944 at a military camp “somewhere in France” and the action begins as the USO performers arrive by jeep at a makeshift stage. The troupe, dressed in John-Bryan Davis’ authentic but unflattering combat fatigues, immediately set about performing a variety of Christmas carols and popular 1940s tunes like “White Christmas,” “I Left My Heart at the Stage Door Canteen” and “Comin’ In on a Wing and a Prayer.”

Unlike “A Chorus Line,” “Kiss Me Kate” or the currently popular “Forever Plaid,” “Caravan” isn’t a musical about putting on a show--it’s a representation of an actual USO show. In “Caravan,” there is no behind-the-scenes activity, there is virtually no character development and there is never any sense of relationship between the characters.

“Caravan” falls into a gray area somewhere between a musical revue and a musical drama. As in a traditional drama, the cast members portray characters, but these characters are so underdeveloped that there is almost nothing to watch. If “Caravan” consisted exclusively of singers singing songs, one could view it as a concert and leave it at that, but Yurgaitis creates a dramatic context and encounters significant structural problems.

The play’s fundamental dramatic failing crystallizes in two early remarks. Francine (Christine Phelps) says: “We’re going to have a lot of terrific memories when we get home from this trip.” Butch (John Guth) says: “I had no idea about the amount of work that went into this tour.”

Playwright Yurgaitis doesn’t show the audience where Francine’s “terrific memories” come from and he doesn’t show Butch doing any work whatsoever; Yurgaitis teases the audience with references to dramatic episodes and potentially interesting situations, but fails to portray any of these scenarios on stage. We don’t see the USO jeep break down near enemy lines, we merely hear about it after the fact. Rather than utilizing an active approach, Yurgaitis wrote the entire play in an uninteresting, passive-voice perspective.

Because Yurgaitis’ script lacks dramatic zest, it’s up to the actors to to knock our socks off with great singing and great dancing. Here, too, the production is lacking.

In the lead role, Phelps delivers heartfelt renditions of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “I’ll Walk Alone,” but her consistent showmanship is the exception. Audrei-Kairene (Lucille) and Rand Allen (Frankie) meet with sporadic success in their solo numbers, while both Connie Di Grazia (Vera) and Michael Summers seem uncomfortable on stage throughout the show.

Yurgaitis’ choreography is remarkably simple and unexciting, but the cast still has difficulty staying in step throughout the show. During most of the numbers, the performers simply stand and sing, occasionally walking from one side of the stage to another. The more intricate dance routines are almost laughable, as everyone seems to be dancing to his or her private choreography.

In the play’s sole clever twist, an air raid siren heralds the welcome break of intermission. Here, for the first and last time in the play, a dramatic event occurs on stage in front of the audience. Before the cast scatters for cover, Frankie speaks directly to the crowd: “This looks like a good time for intermission. We’ll see you after the ‘all clear’ signal.”

As the whining sound builds and encompasses the venue, one can’t help but wonder how good this play might have been if more events took place in front of the audience rather than “earlier today” or “just last week.”

“The USO Hollywood Christmas Caravan”

Christine Phelps: Connie Di Grazia

Audrei-Kairene: Rand Allen

Michael Summers: John Guth

Written, directed and choreographed by Daniel Yurgaitis. Original songs composed by Julie Shannon. Musical director is Terry O’Donnell. Sets by Ocie Robinson. Costumes by John-Bryan Davis. Lights by Patrick Byrnes. Stage manager is Renee Porte. At 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 7 p.m. Sundays (no performances Dec. 23-25), through Dec. 31. At the Theatre in Old Town, 4040 Twiggs St., Old Town. Tickets $13-$15. 688-2494.