"I love the theatre, but I never come late”
In some ways, this tale of the exploitation of unpaid interns working in a
theatre could be considered a timely revival looking at the ethics of the
industry. But though that is the pretext of Babes in Arms, it is a much more
whimsical piece than that - a 1937 Broadway musical from Rodgers and Hart,
frothily light in plot but musically superlative in places, brimming with
standards like The Lady is a Tramp, Johnny One Note and My Funny Valentine.
This production uses a revised book from 1959 by George Oppenheimer in
which a team of bright young apprentices toil away at a struggling theatre, falling
in and out of love with each other at the drop of a hat and secretly rehearsing
a musical revue which they hope to put on. It’s undoubtedly a candy-floss ball
of a plot but cheerfully and entertainingly staged in David Ball’s production with
Sam Cable’s sharp 3-man band and splendidly enlivened by the interjections of
Lizzi Gee’s suitcase-wielding and delightfully tap-heavy choreography.
A largely young and fresh-faced cast cleaning up ‘backstage’ as we enter
the auditorium, the percussive noises from their chores leading neatly into the
first rendition of the tuneful ‘Babes in Arms’ and out of the ensemble,
appealing performances do emerge. Catriona Mackenzie makes a kicky heroine out
of Susie who only has eyes for James Lacey’s Valentine (as in My Funny...), who
in turn is mooning over visiting actress Jennifer, Carly Thoms in sweet form. But
the eye is really caught by Ben Redfern’s charismatic Gus, well partnered by
Anna McGarahan’s buxom Terry in the delightful I Wish I Were In Love Again and
by Jenny Perry’s Bunny, the put-upon co-owner who blossoms under the spotlight
and delivers some of the best songs with the straight-forward earnestness that
shows like this need to in order to succeed.
That earnestness isn’t always present across the board though, which means
that there are moments when the energy flags a little and the feeling of fun
not quite there. And the second half does see the show making some perplexing
decisions: the central romance that seems to have been building gets dropped
like a hot potato; the focus in the finale seems oddly placed on Bunny. But if
one leaves such quibbles aside, there’s much charming, uncomplicated fun to
enjoy here, not least in the brilliantly played take-off of a stereotypically
bad Southern melodrama.
Running time: 1 hour 55 minutes (with interval)
Booking until 12th May
Labels: Andrew Ahern, Anna McGarahan, Ben Redfern, Carly Thoms, Catriona MacKenzie, Ceris Hine, Daniel Bartlett, James Lacey, Jenny Perry, Paddy Crawley, Peter Dukes, Stuart Pattenden