The producers of this irresistible show, a freely adapted version of the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie, don't subscribe to the precept of deferred gratification. Once the deliciously orchestrated overture is over, Matthew White's production unleashes a knock-'em-dead account of "Puttin' on the Ritz".
As thundering tap sounds seem to cascade down the nonchalantly relaxed trouser-legs of Tom Chambers, and as the massed canes that have been thwacking the stage are hoisted to form elating straight lines for the pay-off, you may feel that they have decided to start with the full-on finale first and then work backwards.
In fact, after a slightly fumbling start, this adaptation is a divinely daffy delight. As New York showman Jerry Travers, who is in London to headline a musical, and as Dale Tremont, the woman who falls in love with him, Chambers and Summer Strallen bring their own witty inflections to a plot of mistaken identity and flirtation by sparring.
Go. (0870 400 0805; ticketmaster.co.uk) to 26 Jan
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments