Crazy For You Theatre Review
12 Days of Catch-up: 3
The Christmas and New Year period is a popular time to take in a show, even for irregular theatregoers. If seeking a special occasional outing, you can’t go far wrong with Crazy for You. Inspired by George and Ira Gershwin’s Broadway musical Girl Crazy (1930), Crazy for You was written by Ken Ludwig in 1992 and carries all the vintage glamour of the era it harks back to. The show’s original choreographer Susan Stroman returns to direct and choreograph. Her revival is the epitome of the classic American dance musical: familiar songs from Gershwin’s repertoire such as ‘Embraceable You’ and ‘I Got Rhythm’ are performed alongside tap-dancing duets, diamond-sharp ensemble numbers and feather-waving chorus lines.
Set in depression-era America, the story follows Bobby Child (Charlie Stemp), a wannabe broadway star from a wealthy bank-owning family who’s discharged from New York to Deadrock, Nevada, to personally foreclose on a defunct theatre. Feisty Polly (Carly Anderson), daughter of the theatre’s owner, post-person and the sole female in town, blows in among the tumbleweed leaving Bobby love-struck. Rebuffed, Bobby plans to redeem himself by saving the Gaiety theatre with a reviving stage hit. He calls in aid from his New York showbiz friends and disguises himself as legendary theatre owner Bela Zangler to enliven the town’s disheartened residents and win over Polly.
The incredible energy and can-do spirit is infectious, and you can’t help but feel uplifted as Stemp charges around the stage with unfathomable speed and precision. Stroman’s choreography is masterful: I was glad to spot cuban breaks in the opening number, and was so swept along by the sheer rhythm of the thing that I could almost forgive my pet-peeve of a Viennese waltz beat unaccompanied by viennese steps. ‘I Got Rhythm’ is a highlight of the show: miners become tap-dancers with corrugated iron and washboards as their stage, pick-axe’s their dance-canes. This ovation-worthy number closes the first act with the cliffhanger arrival of the real Bela Zangler (Tom Edden).
There were brief moments that dulled rather than dazzled: the transmutation of the helium-pitched female ensemble into bass guitars during ‘Slap that Bass’ is a fun visual trick, but showgirls becoming inanimate instruments to be strummed gave a jolt of discomfort. Female wit and spirit is simplistically conveyed by striking a toffee-nosed pose following a clichéd set-down, and the superfluous brawl that breaks out when drunken men jealously declare ‘That’s my woman!’ is more troglodyte than enchantment. The production lacks modernisation to reflect 30 years (or almost 100 years) of societal change, and the plot hangs on men pursuing women who’ve voiced their refusal. Do we still consider that romantic? Or just crazy smarmy?
Many of the characters are caricatures: the dragon mother, the the tomboy heroine with a soft side who just needs to wear more pretty dresses. But they’re not without magnetism. Natalie Kassanga is marvellous as Charlie’s unwanted fiancé Irene, who blends the traits of managing harridan and ambitious nymphomaniac into one terrifying, silkily wrapped package. Her rendition of ‘Naughty Baby’ flips the switch as she hogties the suddenly gormless Lank, rendering him a squirming broncho as we gallop towards the comedic coupling-offs. The physical comedy is a strength of the production. Edden and Stemp are standout in their mirror vaudeville number ‘What Causes That?’ as Zangler and Bobby-as-Zangler: ‘I am beside myself!’ Edden exclaims, clowning at the audience to appreciate the joke.
Friends (thespians and dancers) have attended Crazy for You multiple times and praise the dance musical as a firm favourite. For a night of toe-tapping, feel-good glamour it ticks all the right boxes - best to enjoy the wider effect without getting too ‘picky, picky, picky’. A story about the power of the arts to rejuvenate a community (and its economy) is a good one to carry into 2024. 4/5.
Crazy for You runs at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, London, until 31st December 2023.