'Crazy For You' at The Novello Theatre

After a less than pleasant week at work it was a delight to realise that we had tickets to see 'Crazy For You' at the Novello Theatre on Friday night.  'Crazy For You' is billed as "the smash hit Gershwin musical" and it's the ultimate feel good song n dance spectacular - I loved it!

It's adapted from 'Girl Crazy' with more songs added and story that wouldn't stand up terribly well if you held it up yourself, but since when has a well-crafted plot been essential to a joyful musical extravaganza? It's the tale of Bobby, the rich kid who wants to be a dancer on Broadway who is sent to a dead-end hick town in Nevada to close a theatre-cum-post office who falls in love with the daughter of the owner and decides to put on a show to raise money to pay off the bank.  All sorts of mayhem and confusion ensues in a careful and knowing way which was great fun.  I particularly liked the line when challenged about putting on a show in a decrepit old theatre when Bobby said that Mickey Rooney does it all the time...

Our heroes are Sean Palmer as Bobby and Clare Foster as Polly Baker, the girl he falls for.  Both have a lovely stage presence, throwing themselves into their roles with abandon and having great chemistry as the star-crossed lovers with lovely voices and killer dance moves. They're ably supported by David Burt as Bela Zangler, the Broadway producer.  David has great comic timing and a good voice but, y'know what?  I'll always think of him as Petal from 'Taboo' with his too-short miniskirt and flambouyant knickers with a sock stuck down the front (I assume there was padding down there). It was great to see him again, particularly in the slapstick drunken scene in the second half.

I was conscious of having a smile on my face for most of this play, seeing the massed ranks of synchronised tap-dancers and singers making me astonished at how they must've practiced to deliver such a slick performance.  Well done people. And the cannon at the end shooting sparkly strips into the audience was the icing on the cake.

I'll definietley want to see this production again while I can. It's full of happiness and joy and you can never have too much joy in your life. Gimme more!