T’was the night for understudies, but I wouldn’t have known that if I hadn’t looked up the cast list on my way home. There were a few notes that made me pause and wonder if the understudies were on, but you never would have guessed from the dancing as it was absolutely phenomenal. And that is what this show is about: the dancing. The plot is pretty flimsy and there are only a couple of well known show tunes - We’re In the Money, Lullaby of Broadway and 42nd Street being the only ones I knew.
The show within a show, ‘Pretty Lady’, leaves me completely perplexed - I can’t fathom a storyline that would link the numbers the audience are privy to, and the dancing flowers are completely baffling! I really would be intrigued to see ‘Pretty Lady’ performed sometime!
The characters are more like caricatures and so the acting is a little over the top, to the extent that it is very hammy and perhaps feels a little amateurish. But there is nothing amateurish about the dancing. It is simply incredible. Slick, smooth, polished and perfectly timed.
Tom Lister has an impressively rich and resonating voice as Julian Marsh, and CH Johnson brought wonderful and perfect comic timing as Maggie Jones. The sets are impressive, and the costumes are rainbow coloured and all perfectly co-ordinated. This is an MGM musical brought to life and will have you toe-tapping and humming as you leave the theatre; a feel-good show with the most impressive choreography and execution currently in the West End. This is a spectacle you will not want to miss.