CRAZY FOR YOU
★★★★★ Gillian Lynne Theatre, London, until January 20. Tickets: 020 3925 2998
Charlie Stemp is rapidly becoming Britain’s leading song and dance man.
More Donald O’Connor than Gene Kelly, he combines the cheeky persona of Tommy Steele with the manic energy of Jim Carrey.
As the lovestruck hero of this musical – based very loosely on Ira and George Gershwin’s Girl Crazy – he is just about perfect. Although Ken Ludwig’s new version premiered in 1992, it captures the 1930s period with such loving authenticity that it never appears ersatz.
A classic dance musical, as if Singing In The Rain had collided with Calamity Jane, it starts in New York, moves to a one-horse town in Nevada and ends up bringing Broadway to the Wild West.
Stemp is Bobby, a young dance-crazy tenderfoot from back east, who attempts to woo western gal Polly (Carly Anderson) through subterfuge. He poses as a big-time producer who can restore the fortunes of her decaying theatre in Deadrock by mounting a show with a Broadway cast.
This dance-oriented romcom is performed with such verve and lickety-split speed there is no time to dwell on the plot’s absurdities. And with Gershwin classics such as Someone To Watch Over Me, Embraceable You and I Got Rhythm, who cares?
Susan Stroman’s direction and choreography are breathtaking and the cast is equal to her demands, including western waltzes, balletic solos, thunderous synchronised ensembles and tap dancing on trays or table tops.
Peppered with silent movie pratfalls, Groucho gags, uber-glamorous frock follies and an abiding sense of joy in theatrical nostalgia, this is guaranteed to put a spring in your step and a smile in your heart.