Crazy For You theatre review: Based on the musical based on ‘Girl Crazy’, which was written by the Gershwin brothers and first opened in the 1930s.
Crazy For You theatre review by Katey Thompson.
Cray For You theatre review
Crazy For Your revovles around a theatre performer wannabe Bobby Child who is desperately trying to escape the grasp of his overbearing mother, who insists on him continuing with his unsuccessful career in her bank. He is tasked with repossessing a failing theatre in Nevada, whose owners are falling behind on the mortgage. Bobby makes it to the Mid-West, but is floored by the beauty of the theatre owner Polly Baker (Charlotte Wakefield) and falls instantly in love. He sees an opportunity to revive the dilapidated theatre and turn a town of goldminers into theatrical stars.
This lively production starts with Bobby Child (Tom Chambers) trying out for a part in a stage show in New York, produced by Bela Zangler (Neil Ditt). The show is staged so you are constantly seeing a mix of both in front of and behind the curtain, meaning you see as much of the back stage antics and mishaps as the polished show. Perhaps this caused the initial feeling that the musical felt somewhat disjointed, an impression that would remain throughout the rest of the show. This made sense when considering that the show is based on an original Gershwin musical, heavily rearranged and reinterpreted with both story line changed and musical numbers taken from other Gershwin classics. The result on the plot was that the love story came across as rapidly developed, without a feeling of genuine emotion between the characters.
Cray For You theatre review
A lot of the comedy worked well, the scene where Bobby dressed as Zangler descended from the theatre box in a drunken state with a tenuous grasp on a rope had everyone laughing. If you accept it for what it is; a light hearted vaudeville style love story, come romantic comedy, you can forgive some of its limitations. The cast put on a great show, with the actors doing a fantastic job of playing their instruments whilst dancing is impressive to see. The choreographed scenes pulled the show and the cast together and each number, although slightly too long perhaps, was executed with verve and enthusiasm.
Even though this musical was of another era and does not add anything substantial to the genre of musical theatre, it was a genuinely enjoyable romp though Gershwin’s back catalogue.
Crazy For You review by Katey Thompson, May 2018.
Crazy For You is running at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking until 19th May 2018.
