Review | Crazy For You at Chichester Festival Theatre: 'If you’re in need of a lift, this Gershwin magic will do the job'

Year after year the quality rarely dips below ‘Wow’ and occasionally soars to the astronomical – which it did in 2016 with their revamped Half-a-Sixpence. One of the reasons it hit those dizzy heights was their Kipps, the then-unknown Charlie Stemp. Following Sixpence he made a brief return to the Festival Theatre in Stoppard’s Rough Crossing but now returns – following soujourns on Broadway and in the West End – in Susan Stroman’s directed-and-choreographed Crazy for You.

It is no secret that I am a huge Stemp fan and one always goes to see new work by one’s heroes with trepidation. What if they let you down?

And does he?

More on that point later.

Crazy for You is, essentially, a juke-box musical. Written in 1992 with a whole whizz-bang collection of old, well-known, Ira and George Gershwin songs it tells the story of Bobby Child (Stemp) a would-be performer whose banker-mother would rather he made good in a job in the city. She sends him to Deadrock to foreclose on a failing theatre and, instead of complying with mum’s wishes, he decides to reinvent and revive the theatre.

The plot is stuffed full of boy-meets-girl, mistaken-identity, stock-characterisation clichés and – for that very reason – is a joy. This, when tempered with the Gershwin score and lyrics takes it to a higher level and when in the hands of Stemp and Carly Anderson (as his will-she-won’t-she love-interest, Polly Baker) it runs. And jumps. And flies.

And once again we find ourselves among the astronomical.

Stemp can dance; there’s no argument there. In Sixpence his voice did the job; characterised nicely, hit the notes – but was nothing exceptional.

But, oh my – what six years more experience can do to a man. Stemp is also now a Singer. With a capital ‘S’. His voice blends beautifully when singing with others and stands out when it needs to. This is a man in control of his talent. The Bobby/Polly relationship is beautifully realised (considering how shallow it is in terms of the script) and Stemp and Anderson, together, are joyous to watch.

The scene where Bobby and impresario Bela Zangler (Tom Edden) mirror each other is perhaps the finest in the show. Likewise, mention must be made of Merryl Ansah's cheekily suggestive rendition of Naughty Baby.

The ensemble work, too, is impressive and often beyond impressive. Stroman has drilled her not-simple choreography into them beautifully and their delivery is as sharp as a razor. The group vocals are good, particularly in the smaller numbers.

If I have a criticism it’s that the show appears to have been blocked for a proscenium-arch performance. The useful Chichester revolve is not used and it seemed to me there was only the occasional nod to people being sat stage-right and stage-left of the performance space. Any show being directed for Chichester must surely embrace the theatre’s design and welcome in the whole audience.

But if, in this rather unpleasant world we find ourselves in at present, you’re in need of a lift, this Gershwin magic will do the job.

Until September 4.