Music and Lyrics by George Gershwin & Ira Gershwin
Book by Ken Ludwig
Direction and choreography by Susan Stroman
Set Design by Beowulf Borritt
Music direction by Alan Williams
Chichester Festival Theatre
Thursday 11th August 2022, 14.30
&
Sunday 4th September, 2022, 14.30
CAST
Charlie Stemp- Bobby Child
Carly Anderson – Polly Baker
Don Gallagher – Everett Baker, Polly’s father
Tom Edden – Bela Zangler, impresario
Matthew Craig – Lank Hawkins, hotel owner
Gay Soper- Lottie Child, Bobby’s mother
Merryl Ansah- Irene Roth, Bobby’s fiancée
Adrian Grove – Eugene Fodor
Jacqui Dubois – Patricia Fodor
Sadie-Jean Shirley- Tess, who Zangler fancies
Joshua Nkemdilim – Billy
Marc Akinfolarin – Moose
Lila Anderson – VeraSimon Anthony – Sam (understudied: Ryan Jupp)
Craig Bartley- Mingo
Jason Battersby- Junior
Evonnee Bentley-Holder – Sheila
Imogen Bowtell- Elaine
Laura Hills – Mitzi
Kyle Cox – Wyatt
Ella Valentine – Margie
Tara Yasmin – Louise
Joshua Nkemdilim – Billy
Matthew Malthouse – Pete
Nicholas Duncan – Jimmy
Kate Parr – Patsy
Nathan Elwick- Custus
Bethan Downing – swing
Nell Martin – dance captain / swing
Bradley Treventhan – swing
Crazy For You is not an actual ‘Gershwin musical.’ It has a fascinating genesis, told in the programme. It’s more akin to a ‘jukebox musical’ i.e. compiling existing songs, and creating a new musical. It was first done in New York in 1992, and the major point about this production thirty years on is that Susan Stroman, the original choreographer, has returned to the musical to direct and choreograph here. When they wrote it, they used Girl Happy (1930) as a rough basis, then listened to every Gershwin musical to find good songs that might fit the story. Therefore, they escape the normal musical three or maybe four memorable songs plus filler issue.So they did not simply go for the “greatest hits” (Summertime would never have fitted).
Then they add Charlie Stemp, who was a “star is born” triumph in Half A Sixpence at Chichester in 2016 as the lead, Bobby Child, plus another ‘up and coming star’ Carly Andersen, as the female lead, Polly. The truly great Tom Edden, who created the waiter in One Man Two Guv’nors has the major comic role as Bela Zangler. Joshua Nkemdilim as one of the Nevada cowboys, Billy, excels throughout adding skills of a circus acrobatics level to the dance.
The cast list is mildly irritating, as the characters have names which we never hear on stage.
The story? The pleasure is in creating a musical archetype as the vehicle. A line sums it up:
How are we going to save this place? Put on a show!
It allows a series of theatre in-jokes throughout. Bobby Child wants to be a dancer in a show. At the start he is desperate to audition for Zanger’s Follies in new York by showcasing his (incredible) dancing skills. He is rejected. Enter his dowager mother, who owns the bank that’s his day job. He is sent to foreclose on buildings in Dead Rock, Nevada (population 37).
Bobby is engaged to Irene Roth (Merryl Ansah) who is a domineering type who he wishes to escape, and who his mother hates.
We cut to Nevada with a projected skyline and the town, with its two buildings, the saloon / hotel / restaurant and the post office. Everett Baker (Don Gallagher) owns the post office, which used to be a theatre in gold-mining days, and his wife (Polly’s deceased mother) used to sing there. There is sense to that … Jerome, near Sedona, Arizona was a copper mining town with a population of 15,000 which dwindled to 100 in the 1960s, before it reinvented itself as a tourist destination. We’ve been there, and at least three stores / cafes were run by people from Leicester, UK.
Lank Hawkins (Matthew Craig) owns the saloon and wants to buy Everetts post office … Everett is the bad guy. Polly, Everett’s daughter, encourages him not to sell. She is much pursued by the local men, being the only female in town. Billy arrives in town, and things are going well with Polly and they discuss putting on a show, until she discovers he is the man from the bank.
So Billy disguises himself as Bela Zangler, and invites the dancers from Zangler’s Follies to come for the show. They then have to train the local men to dance – incidentally ‘dancing badly’ like this is particularly hard to do.There is something in the costume and choreography contrasting the old style Zangers Follies dance teams with a freer and wilder dance out West.
Two English travellers arrive … the Fodors. They’re writing a hotel guide, and want to review Hank’s establishment. Her maiden name was Michelin. They later lead the company in Stiff Upper Lip.
Slap That Bass is one of several astonishing pieces of choreography, where rope is cut and the men use it to mime string double basses with the female dancers as the bass bodies.
The first act ends with an eight minute choreographed I Got Rhythm with spades, gold mining pans, saws all in use. The timing of Bobby tap dancing on the metal pans (one is slid in from a distance) is impeccable. This is the highlight of the show. It brought back memories for me of doing lights on I Got Rhythm in 1960s Summer Variety Shows with much more traditional Television Toppers choreography!
The highlight of the second act is that the real Bela Zangler (Tom Edden) has arrived leading to the normal ‘Shakespearean confusion’ for Polly. The long scene where Charlie Stemp and Tom Edden, dressed and beared identically mirror each other while drunk is a magnificent piece of split-second comic acting from both.
Irene (Merryl Ansah) turns up to stay at the hotel and pursues Lank Hawkins which is another memorable comedy duo as they sing Naughty Baby.
There is a town meeting to decide whether to go on with the show. Throughout, the amount of climbing on and jumping on and over chairs and suitcases made us first marvel at the skills, then consider how much the insurance must cost for the show.
Billy goes back to New York, Polly decides to follow, they both end up in Dead Rock. All is resolved.
About half way through the first act we thought it was ‘The Charlie Stemp Show’ as he dazzled us with dancing, singing and comedy in combination. Several reviewers mention Norman Wisdom (a mild facial resemblance) but he’s way, way better than that. It would have been unbalanced if it had kept the focus so squarely on Bobby Childs, but it doesn’t. There are ensemble pieces, and solo singing from Polly.
Polly gets to sing Someone To Watch Over Me in the first act and But Not For Me in the second. We had managed to get front row seats as I knew this would be the most heavily-booked production, and booked it first when we did the whole season Friends booking … most people work through chronologically. Carly Anderson was right by us, and it was a privilege to be that close. The song that stuck in my mind all the way home wasThey Can’t Take That Away From Me by Charlie Stemp as Bobby.
What can you say? A 16 piece orchestra, some of the best Gershwin songs, first rate singers, dancing at the highest level. Great set. Great costumes. Marvellous comedy moments. We are going to try to see it again before the run finishes. Yes, it was that good. We both thought it may be the best musical we’ve seen.
You can but go with the flow:
FIVE STARS *****
SEPTEMBER 4th
We saw it again (of course) this time in Row J rather than A, and audience just left of centre rather than just right of centre. It was even better, with a second viewing allowing us to notice bits of the multiple action we’d missed. The energy level was fantastic – it was the final day of the run. It was completely sold out, and got a standing ovation at the interval as well as at the end. There was so much applause after songs and dance routines that it must have added a few minutes, It is the best we’ve seen.
WHAT THE CRITICS SAID
Arifa Akbar in The Guardian gave it a five star review but mentioned that the characters were ‘not fully rounded’ (It’s a musical, not King Lear) and that it was a ‘guilty pleasure.’ I feel no guilt about loving it.
five star
Dominc Cavendish, Telegraph – *****
Arifa Akbar, Guardian – *****
Patrick Marmion, Daily Mail – *****
Financial Times – *****
Simon Button, Attitude – *****
Jill Lawrie, Theatre South East – *****
four star
Quentin Letts, Sunday Times ****
Clive Davis, The Times – ****
Gareth Carr, What’s On Stage – ****
In The Cheap Seats – ****
LINKS ON THIS BLOG
CHARLIE STEMP
Half A Sixpence, Chichester, 2016
TOM EDDEN
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Oi, Donmar Warehouse 2017
A Little Hotel On The Side – Feydeau, Bath
One Man, Two Guvnors– West End original run
Measure for Measure – Young Vic (Pompey)
Amadeus, National Theatre, 2017
ADRIAN GROVE
South Pacific, Chichester, 2021
Follies, by Steven Sondheim, National Theatre, 2019
wonder.land by Damon Albarn, National Theatre 2016
JACQUI DUBOIS
Me & My Girl, Chichester 2018
Peter Viney's Blog 
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