Music and Lyrics: George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin
Book: Ken Ludwig
Director: Susan Stroman
Some musicals take a while to get going. Some have great set pieces that make up for attacks of the doldrums elsewhere. Some have books that do not live up to the promise of the songs, or vice versa. Some musicals start to fade from memory as soon as the curtain falls.
Happily Crazy for You, the show celebrating the catalogue of George and Ira Gershwin and the silliness of 1930s stage and movie musicals transferring to the West End from Chichester, is none of those. Instead, it is a theatrical joy from start to finish.
Despite its period trappings, Ken Ludwig’s book dates only from 1992. Created as a very loose adaptation of the Gershwins’ 1930 Broadway musical Girl Crazy (which itself underwent numerous changes for its three film adaptations) the show concerns itself with Bobby Child (Charlie Stemp), a clerk in his mother’s bank who has dreams of escaping his nepo-baby destiny to become a tap dancer. When called upon to travel to a former mining town in Nevada to foreclose on the town’s theatre, he instead falls in love with the theatre owner’s daughter (Carly Anderson’s Polly) and vows to save the theatre.
So far, so Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland “We’ll put on the show right here” energy. Even in the early stages, though, there are huge flourishes, helped by original Broadway choreographer Susan Stroman also taking on directorial duties here. Dance is woven into the fabric of every scene, with Stemp taking command early on. His Bobby is meek and unassuming, but the actor is anything but – every move, every cheeky grin, hits perfectly.
The initial Broadway-set scenes, backstage at the theatre owned by Ziegfeld-substitute Bela Zangler, are light and fun, thanks in no small part to the sparring between Natalie Kassanga as Charlie’s fiancée Irene and Marilyn Cutts as his mother. But it’s when the action moves to Deadlock Nevada, and the theatre’s custom proscenium effortlessly changes from art deco glitz to corrugated iron, that the musical kicks into high gear.
The story involves Bobby – spurned by Polly on account of his job being to repossess her father’s theatre – dressing up as Zangler, convincing the town that he is there to produce a fundraising concert. Roping in all the locals and a coterie of the real Zangler’s dancing girls, Bobby – and Stemp – infuses everyone with a sense of purpose, happiness and love for dance. Classic Gershwin hits Shall We Dance?, Someone to Watch Over Me, Slap That Bass and Embraceable You bring out the abilities of Stemp, Anderson and the ensemble,led by a wonderfully droll performance from Marc Akinfolarin as the town’s lovable lunkhead, Moose.
Act I closes with a barnstorming rendition of I Got Rhythm which, with its combination of tap dancing and industrial materials, reiterates the style which came to inspire shows such as Stomp!.
Throughout the humour comes thick and fast, with comedic zingers that, while occasionally cheesy, are delivered with such unabashed glee that the humour is infectious. That steps up a gear in the second act, though, as the real Bela Zangler (Tom Edden) arrives in Deadrock. Edden and Stemp’s mirroring, as a drunken Zangler interacts with a similarly drunken Billy-dressed-as-Zangler, achieves the nigh-impossible task of being the highlight of a show which is excellent throughout.
There may lie little in the way of surprise in the way events unfold towards the big romantic finale. But surprise is not, and nor should it be, the goal of this type of musical. Instead, it is a note-perfect, unironic celebration of the glitz and glamour of old-time Broadway that works on every level.
And the lion’s share of the credit the show deserves for warming the heart so effectively must surely go to Charlie Stemp. Since his first starring role (as Kipps in 2016-17’s Half a Sixpence, another Chichester transfer) he has planted himself as one of musical theatre’s strongest, most natural and most watchable performers. And with Crazy for You, Stemp shows that he is only getting started.
Continues until 20 January 2024
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Theatrical joy
