It’s party time the night before a big wedding: the perfect excuse for glitz, glitter and music.
Sophie Bould stars as confused ex-wife and bride-to-be Tracy Lord. Her big weakness is, of course, champagne, and as everyone becomes more lubricated, a certain clarity is lent to proceedings as the penny drops with each of her three potential suitors.
There's her ex-husband Dexter Haven – still hurting from the divorce and played by former Robin Hood Michael Praed, investigative journalist Mike Connor (Daniel
Boys) and the wonderfully out-of-his-depth George Kittredge - brought to
life by Keiron Crook.
It's fun to imagine their roles as played by Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra in the 1956 film on which the stage musical is based. Grace Kelly made up the bill-toppers back then in her last singing role on film before her marriage to Prince Rainier, as Tracy. The lively and evocative music helps the plot along but there are no show-stoppers; it's a pleasant performance and great to see the cast return for a welcome finale to show off their talents once more.
We all know Who Wants to be a Millionaire and True Love, the most memorable hits, but chorus numbers High Society and Let's Misbehave are among the many Cole Porter classics which firmly bring to life the carefree existence of these rich folk in their Art Deco surroundings.
A revolving stage and some tricky scene changes occasionally made it hard to work out where the actors were – with 11 different locations served by essentially the same backdrop.
But it's make-believe – and make believe we did, easily believing in all of the main characters so much so that they drew the laughs at all the right moments as their characterisation grew. We all know who we want the groom to be by the time we find out!
Particularly fun were the supporting roles of Teddy Kempner as Uncle Willie and Katie Lee as young Dinah Lord, Tracy's teenage sister. While Uncle Willie was seeking his own love interest for much of the second act, Dinah set her stall out early on with energy and gusto showing off her precocious singing, dancing and linguistic skills to the visitors.
