Review of Crazy For You
 | "Entertaining and undeniably impressive achievement" by Laura Woodfield for remotegoat on 19/10/09 |  |
With such an impressive stated attempt, the cast and crew could be forgiven for going through the motions - buoyed by a supportive audience and safe in the knowledge that it was all for a good cause. Thankfully, any worries that this could be a worthy but rushed and amateurish evening were firmly dispelled by the incredibly high standard of talent displayed across all aspects of the performance. The energy and enthusiasm of the cast was infectious and the musical numbers whistled by at breakneck pace that joyously carried the audience along with it.
I confess to not having known much about the Gershwin musical before the performance so it's hard to say whether the well-managed arrangement was due to the original score or down to careful editing, but it seemed a good choice for a musical playing to an audience comprise of a sizeable percentage of vocally supportive friends and family members of the large (126-strong) cast. A good balance of solos, dance routines and ensemble numbers meant that every cast member seemed to have their chance to shine - and it has to be said that there didn't seem to be a weak link amongst them.
Whilst it seems perhaps unfair to draw attention to individual performances when the whole cast had clearly put the same level of work and commitment into the 48 hours prior to the performance, the two leads were excellent. Sam Harrison excelled in the double-role of Bobby Child (playing his own character and impersonating another) and Hayley Emma Otway delighted in her portrayal of love-interest Polly Baker - both pulling off their pivotal roles with a seemingly effortless charm that made the challenge of bringing the characters to life in a mere 48 hours seem far easier than it can have been. Henry Barrett was superb as the lovelorn Hungarian theatre impresario Bela Zangler (no small feat given that the character's presence is largely just implied for the entirety of the first half) and, along with Harrison, provided the highlight of the show with a beat-perfect rendition of 'What Causes That' which had the audience in stitches.
The dancing and choreography throughout was excellent - particularly given that this aspect of the production can have had no prior preparation whatsoever. You did sometimes feel for the dancers when an over-crowded stage and lack of space resulted in some tangled limbs and occasional knocks but the performers never let any of this show, and to think that so many dance routines (21, count them!) had been put together in so little time was hugely impressive.
Any faults were few and far-between, and in any case were entirely forgivable in the context of a production that is an undeniably impressive achievement in itself. The entire cast and crew deserve a huge amount of respect for not only managing in stage a musical within such ludicrously tight time constraints, but for having the ambition to not think that this in itself was enough - providing a wonderfully engaging night's entertainment that can stand proudly alongside the productions that the Palladium normally plays host to.
More information on the work of Cecily's Fund can be found here - http://www.cecilysfund.org/
| Event Venues & Times | |
| finished | London Palladium | Argyll Street, London, W1A 3AB |
