Big movie hit of 1956, massively popular ever since, is the rom-com High Society, a film that sparkles at every delightful moment in spite of its silly plot and whisks you off most joyfully to nowhere in particular. Grace Kelly’s laid-back charm, disarming charisma and dreamy elegance totally captivate, along with bubbling wit and humour, interesting characters and, above all, Cole Porter’s outstanding songs, including evergreen classics like True Love, Did You Evah?, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, You’re Sensational and Now You Has Jazz (Jazz, Jazz).
The film was based on a 1940 movie, The Philadelphia Story, which, in turn, was based on a stage play by Philip Barry, as is this musical that’s now touring, fresh from its sell-out West End run. The result is a show that seems to please all of the people all of the time.
A broad, handsome set steeps us instantly in the dizzying wealth and opulence of the Lord family, rich American socialites whose luxury mansion and estate sit beside the sparkling sea at Newport, Rhode Island. Sunny lighting and blue tones shine on sweeping staircases, balcony, balustrades, columns, statues, archways and windows galore, on flowers and chandeliers as, with swift tweaks by smart maids and elegant, be-suited butlers, we move from house to pavilion to dapple-walled swimming-pool with stripy loungers or to big-tree garden. Here the quirky characters spring to life to weave webs of gentle chaos, all bound up in never-forgotten music.
That the music is played live by a dozen musicians and their baton-waving MD is crucial to the zing of the songs, and this production features many more songs than the film, extra Cole Porter hits added in to dovetail nicely to the context of the story. Also, unlike the film, the stage show incorporates plenty of high-energy, skirt-twirling, back-flexing, high-lifting ensemble dance routines, especially in show-stoppers like Now You Has Jazz and Let’s Misbehave.
The costumes, naturally, come in a bright, glorious array of swellegant elegance from smart suits to vogue mode, from glitter and glam to casual beauty. Then it’s flounce, froth and frivolous fun all the way as characters sail through choppy seas of flirtation, confrontation, self-delusion, frustration and irritation on light rafts of humour, song, dance and witty silliness. There’s always that little element of intrigue, too, of course, as to where it all will lead. Will willful, contrary Tracy Samantha Lord (Helen George) marry her staid, bespectacled fiancé George Kittredge (David Seadon-Young) with his accountant suits and ties and nerdy tank-tops, or might her champagne-fuelled, late night, skinny-dip pool-plunge with bowled-over journalist Mike Connor (Freddie Fox) lead to something more? On yet another hand, might her reformed, formerly much-loved ex-husband Dexter (Julian Ovenden) bide his time to win her back aboard his yacht, the True Love – just as her irritating, precocious little sister Dinah (Naomi Paquette) madly desires?
While the principals play unflaggingly well together, special treats come in the fabulous comic timing and delivery of Josefina Gabrielle as Mother Lord and the poignancy of her reconciliation with errant husband Seth (Malcolm Sinclair). There’s further delight from James Hume’s fabulous Jeeves-ian stiffness and acerbic wit as butler Chester, from the eager insistence and silent mime skills of Naomi Paquette as Dinah, from Carly Mercedes Dyer’s quietly love-struck photographer Liz, who wins all hearts, especially in her rendition of I’ve Got You under My Skin, and from the intimate warmth of Nigel Lindsay’s mischievous, loveable, gin-soaked Uncle Willy.
Big, bright and bubbly, this is a show that brings enjoyment all round.
Eileen Caiger Gray
