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Dancing into nostalgia
Save The Last Dance For Me Malvern Festival Theatre ***** LOWESTOFT, 1963, and teenage sisters
Marie (Elizabeth Carter) and Jennifer (Verity Jones) experience a rare
taste of freedom on their first ever caravan holiday without their
parents. Save The Last Dance For
Me charts their week of adventure and
romance as they are charmed by handsome young Americans from the nearby
U.S. air base (the sweet-talking Milton played by Lee Honey-Jones and
suave Curtis played by Kieran McGinn), as well as chirpy Italian Brummie
ice cream seller Carlo (played fabulously for laughs by Alan Howell). Hearts are aflutter and love is well and truly in
the Lowestoft sea air, but of course the path of true love, even in the
swinging 60s, never does run smooth. This jukebox musical from Laurence Marks and
Maurice Gran (the writers of Dreamboats and Petticoats) promised
to be a crowd-pleaser even before curtain-up. As the house lights
dimmed, a friendly voice invited the audience to sing along to any
numbers we recognised, of which there proved to be many. Focussing on the songs of Doc Pomus and Mort
Shuman, the show features almost thirty popular numbers from the 60s,
such as Viva Las Vegas, Little Sister, Teenager In Love
and Please Mr Postman. The songs are cleverly woven into the story and
performed by the exceptionally talented cast, often with a full live
band on stage, completely in character at all times. Other songs are
performed a capella which shows off the cast's singing skills
brilliantly. On top of that, Bill Deamer's high octane choreography
recreates the crazes of the 60s dancehall and the girls'
swirling-skirted dresses were wonderful to behold. Nostalgic yet fresh, this is a feel-good
production which also touches on the issues of racism and segregation
and how they affected people's lives in 1960s Britain and America. The character of Curtis faces prejudice from
Marie's parents (Sally Peerless and Alex Hammond) as well as local lads
including the otherwise likeable Carlo. McGinn and Carter carry their
leading roles with seeming ease and the chemistry between their
characters is a delight. When Curtis sings Sweets For My Sweet to
the transfixed Marie it is enough to make any girl swoon. Performances, singing, dancing and musical
ability are excellent in every member of the cast but for me Elizabeth
Carter's clear voice and sheer exuberance mark her out for special
mention. Jay Perry as Rufus was also outstanding in his vocal
performance and it is a shame that we didn't hear him more. Amusing references to 60s culture, and confusions
caused by the variations in language usage between the Americans and
English, made for plenty of laughs throughout the show, and I was
smiling all the way through. I was not the only one with a tear in my
eye when towards the end of the evening we discovered whether true love
would find a way to blossom or be crushed forever by the girls'
interfering mum. Ingeniously staged and beautifully lit, the whole
production was a treat from start to end. Scene changes were seamless,
with a damp seafront bench scene instantly transforming into a
Vegas-style U.S. bar complete with stage, jukebox and flashing lights. With audience participation welcome, this
youthful and multi-talented cast delivers a wonderful evening's
entertainment, whilst obviously enjoying themselves thoroughly. For me
the musical highlights were a split-stage performance of Can't Get
Used To Losing You sung by Curtis and Marie, topped only by the
fabulous finale which had the whole audience clapping and singing along. Save The Last Dance For Me b is touring
throughout the spring and summer. Don't miss it! To 04-05-13. Amy Rainbow
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