High Society – The Alexandra, Birmingham

Book: Arthur Kopit

Music and Lyrics: Cole Porter

Additional Lyrics: Susan Birkenhead

Director: Rachel Kavanaugh

Rich people behaving badly, glamorous dresses, jazzy music, complicated love affairs – what else could one ask for in a Cole Porter musical?

High Society is touring the UK with a classy, shiny production starring Helen George that is sure to attract the attention of those who know the show or the 1956 film of the same name, starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra. Lovers of Cole Porter and the film are sure to be delighted and surprised, as there are more musical numbers in the stage musical than in the film. Even more to be excited about! Newcomers to the show are likely to recognise many of the songs, as they have become jazz and pop standards in our time, and continue to be sung today by many beloved stars.

The story follows Tracy Lord (Helen George), a member of the Newport Lord family, who is marrying George Kittredge (played on this occasion by George Bray). Tracy’s mother, sister (Dinah), and their staff all find George forgettable, and Dinah is hoping to find a way to stop the wedding. The arrival of Dexter, Tracy’s ex-husband (whom the family all adore), gives Dinah hope, but it also brings trouble to the weekend. Dexter has allowed two reporters from the magazine Spy to attend the wedding – and this sets everything on its head.

What follows is two and a half hours of shenanigans, elegant dance numbers, and not a whole lot of sense. Helen George has a clear, glassy voice which suits the Cole Porter style beautifully. Her co-stars Freddie Fox, Nigel Lindsay, and Julian Ovenden add strong voices and a little more humour to the mix. However, Carly Mercedes Dyer as Liz Imbrie knocks it out of the park with her character’s dry wit and her truly touching rendition of I’ve Got You Under My Skin. Dyer shows the most thoughtful connection to her words of the entire company, and vocally nails the song to boot. George Bray’s bumbling idiocy as George Kittredge makes the supposed groom much more lovable than he possibly should be, but he is enjoyable to watch nonetheless. Rachel Kavanaugh’s work with the entire company has created a streamlined show with lots of stage-filling, dazzling scenes. At times, there’s so much happening onstage that it’s easy to miss little plot details thrown in amidst the organised chaos, but this won’t prevent anyone from understanding the story. Spectacle has certainly been prioritised, and audiences are sure to love it, but it seems this may have taken precedence over the characters and their stories. Everyone is so “cool” and well-presented that the moments when the mask should fall and the audience should see their inner thoughts, hopes, and fears, we are instead left with pretty singing and suave attitudes.

The stage is beautiful – set designer Tom Rogers has created a grand staircase of a rich country home, and uses that grandness to subtly change locations throughout the house, which is greatly supported by Howard Hudson’s lighting design. Elegant and effortlessly worn costumes designed by Jon Morrell fit the actors into this upper-class world. To top it all off, Anthony Van Laast’s choreography partners with Cole Porter’s music and is performed to absolute perfection, bolstered by the sounds of a fantastic band, directed by Dan McLaughlin.

High Society is a faultless musical (although that may be one of its faults), and one of the purest forms of escapism theatre we can experience. It’s light, classy, a little bit silly, and filled with music so good it’s impossible not to tap your toes, even just a little bit. And if we’re left with anything by the end, it’s a song or two stuck in your head, and the idea that no matter your class or the money in your pocket, we’re all united in being made silly for love.

Runs until 22 August 2026 and on tour