Review: CRAZY FOR YOU, Chichester Festival Theatre
Photo credit: Johan Persson
Returning to the stage of his break out performance in Half a Sixpence, Charlie Stemp is as good as it gets in this revival of Ken Ludwig’s 1992 musical comedy, Crazy for You. With Broadway stalwart Susan Stroman (winner of the Best Choreography Tony for the original production) taking on directing and choreographing duties in Chichester, this has all the ingredients of an old fashioned vaudevillian style musical.
The story, set in the 1930s depression, is unashamedly corny and packed with musical favourites penned by George and Ira Gershwin. Bobby Child (Charlie Stemp) dreams of being in show business, but fails to impress Ziegfeld-type Broadway impresario, Bela Zangler (Tom Edden). His overbearing, rich mother (Gay Soper) wants Bobby to run the family bank so sends him to the depths of Nevada to foreclose on a dilapidated theatre. In the aptly named Deadrock (population 37), he claps eyes on the only woman, the theatre owner’s daughter, Polly (Carly Anderson). In an attempt to win Polly’s heart, he comes up with a zany plan to save the theatre (once the beating of heart of this run down town). Posing as Zangler, he sets about putting on a show, shipping in the Follies girls in their feather clad sparkly outfits (William Ivey Long) to sing and dance with the local blokes!
The stage is set (Beowulf Boritt) with a silver curtain surrounded by an art deco frame ready for the Follies showgirls to make their entrance. If that isn’t enough for you to sit back and switch off, then comes the rapturous overture of Gershwin tunes, dry ice and neon lights.
The whole cast have impeccable comic timing. In abundance, there are one-liners such as “invest in a Casino in Nevada, don’t be stupid!”, puns and slick physical comedy. We witness theatre gold in the saloon bar as the inebriated fake and real Zanglers believe they are seeing their reflections and mirror each other’s moves.
The dance numbers are giddying. Stroman has the showgirls swinging like pendulums on pick hammers and creates human double basses with ropes in front of the girls for the fellas to strum on in ‘Slap That Bass’. All brilliant dancers, the precision with which the cast tap in unison on dustbin lids is a triumph. The excitement of the tap numbers is complemented by softer and beautifully executed balletic and ballroom numbers. The magic between Stemp and Anderson in hold makes us believe that romance is not dead in Deadrock. The jutting out stage and incline of seats at the Chichester Festival Theatre enables us to see every dance step in all of their glory.
Listening to the orchestra (led by Alan Williams) playing a selection of Gershwin classics is a great night out in itself; we only wish they weren’t tucked away off stage.
Anderson is funny and punchy, and we see why Bobby immediately falls for her in a spotlight, freeze frame moment when he first sees her. In contrast to the usually no-nonsense Polly, Anderson’s rendition of ‘But Not for Me’ shows off her sweet melodic voice as we get lost in her dashed hopes of finding love.
In this great production with an exceptionally talented cast, we are reluctant to single anyone out but can’t help it! Believe the hype about Charlie Stemp, he proves why he is one of the most sought after musical theatre stars. So light on his feet, it’s as if he’s going to float up into the rafters. Like Fred Astaire infused with Tigger, he leaps, waltzes and taps his way into our hearts as well as Polly’s. He’s irresistible.
You’d be crazy not to catch it!
***** Five stars
Reviewed by: Vic Willetts
Crazy For You plays at Chichester Festival Theatre until 4 September, with tickets available here.