Crazy For You Theatre Breaks in London

[Crazy for You is an] enjoyable show with high kicking girls to have a gander at and an involving storyline, I have enjoyed others more than this but if you get the tickets for a good price you won't be disappointed, it would suit theatre lovies and the older generation, not so much my cup of tea.

So what happens when we get a bad review?



Yes, Simon's thoughts on Crazy for you (below) were pretty harsh but he is entitled to them.



And I think we should print them. But we don't know our reviewers.Are they just grumpy, do they have a point, and most importantly should we base our decision to see a show (or not) on what they say.



I think that is up to you. But I think it is important to also say that in this case, Crazy for You has generally received sparkling reviews from audience and critics alike.



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Crazy for You broke a record last night. By 12 bars into the overture I already hated it! Partly it was the bands fault, partly it was the directors fault as, unsure that the band was good enough to entertain on its own, actors were told to go on stage to act "doing stuff on stage".



This theme of mistrust re-ocurred throughout the first act.



It spread from the writer too: not sure that the Gershwins could write a whole score of sufficient wit and quality writer Ken Ludwig obviously felt he had to do a "best of the Gershwins Juke Box show". And then, unsure that the resultant list of songs in themselves were witty enough some were re-written! Not much, but enough to notice.



To compound these errors of judgement our intrepid writer, filled with a level of mis-placed self-belief previously unrivalled in musical theatre, wrote a book so insipid that by the end of Act One I was looking forward to the music that, up until the end of the overture, I had hoped I would never hear again.



The cast's enthusiasm obviously lay with the dancing: I Got Rythm, which put Act One out of its misery, was a particular highlight and everyone in the theatre was genuinly disappointed when it came to an end, as by that time the script had plumbed new depths.



Ludwig started with a rather typical 1930s style pater for the script of the early scenes, before he realised he lacked the wit.



Somebody must have said something because Ludwig turned to visual humour and the comedy staples of Fat, Dumb and Inbred: small town hicks made to do "funny" cowboy stuff. "Oh please save me" I intoned a little too loudly for my neighbours liking - who, I must admit, all seemed to be enjoying it.



Having squeezed all the comedy he could muster from our unfortunate Nevada locals, Ludwig turned his plagers eye to the nearest dramatic life-raft. Momentarily it came to rest on the brothers Gershwin and, in a moment of previously undemonstrated genius, allowed his heroine, Polly Baker played by Clare Foster, to just stand there and sing. The resultant "Someone to Watch Over Me" was the first sign of quality in a very long evening.



But even as the applause was at its peak the realisation that someone soon would start talking again chilled my soul.



Next, scripts from old pantomimes were plundered: Lank tells Bobby "You are next to an idiot" Bobby looks at him and takes a large step away. "That isn't funny" says Lank - ain't that the truth!



The blessed reflief of the Act One finale and the afore mentioned "I Got Rythm" stopped the pain.



It doesn't matter what the second act was like. As I came out of the foyer for a breath of fresh air and some highly deserved secondary smoking I looked across to the Duchess Theatre opposite, where "The Pitmen Painters" has just opened - "I should be there" I said to no-one in particular and went to hire one of Boris's Bikes.

Ouch! but it sounds like those around you enjoyed it and it has had good reviews - maybe the band were still getting used their new surroundings! Better luck next time!