I’m going to be totally honest. I wasn’t that enthusiastic about going to see ‘Crazy for You’ when it was announced.
I had seen it at the Theatre Royal many years ago and my memory of it was it being an old slow, western based musical, despite the fact that is was produced in the 90’s. However, the opportunity to interview leading man Tom Chambers, for NottinghamLIVE arose and I couldn’t resist meeting the star of Casualty for a natter.
He was so passionate about the show, his role and the music of Gerswhin, that I felt I had to give it another go. I’m pleased I did because this crowd-pleasing revival takes the musical to new levels.
Ken Ludwig’s quirky plot gave the Gerswhin brothers this feelgood hit, based on their 1930’s Girl Crazy, and whilst it has the feel of a classic comedy Broadway musical from the 1920’s, this is a fast, fun, energetic performance
A cast of nineteen terrific actors and musicians share the stage, sometimes crowding Diego Pitrarchs’s ingenious many-levelled set which transforms from saloon to street to desert. Yes, its busy, but it means there is always something to look at.
The story tells of Bobby Child, a hapless New York banker and frustrated performer who wears his heart on his sleeve and dreams of making it on Broadway. Instructed to go to Deadrock, Nevada to foreclose a rundown theatre, he falls in love with owners no-nonsense daughter, the feisty Polly Baker, inspiring Bobby to help put on a show disguised as the renowned theatre producer, Bela Zangler. Tom Chambers, dazzles as lead, Bobby and gets to show how multi-talented a performer he actually is in what is a physically demanding role. Not only can he dance his socks off and sing, but he proves to be a fine physical comedian too, from exaggerated facial expressions to the boundless energy with which performs, swinging from the balconies and delivering the comedy mirror routine with Peter Dukes who plays Zangler.
Quite why Caroline Flack is billed quite so prominently is a mystery. Playing the seductive Irene, she has a small role and really only one musical number. She looks good and she can dance and hold a tune, but the real female star of the show is leading lady Charlotte Wakefield as Polly. A powerful vocalist and performer who reminds me a little of Jodie Prenger, which means she no doubt has a great future ahead in musical theatre.
The costumes and sets are a colourful cocktail, with the female performers radiating glamour and gorgeousness. Nathan M Wright’s choreography produces some marvellous routines which enable the dancers to simultaneously play instruments
The show is essentially a jukebox musical celebration of Gerswhin numbers that have become American songbook standards, Someone to Watch Over Me, I’ve got Rythem, Slap that Bass, They Can’t Take That Away From Me and Embraceable You, being the most well known.
The happily ever after story is pretty thin, but a bit of everything is thrown at it. A funny script, great characters, mistaken identity and tap dancing,
In contrast to the production I saw previously, this is a big, demanding, fun and faster- paced show. With more musicals now going down the route of having the musical actually played on stage by the performers in character, you can only wonder at how multi-talented you have to be to succeed in the business nowadays.
Crazy For You runs a t The Theatre Royal Nottingham until Saturday 7th October. For more information visit: https://trch.co.uk/whats-on/crazy-for-you/
By Tanya Louise
Editor
@tanyalouise_
