Crazy For You at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, 9th October 2023

Over 100 members enjoyed a highly-entertaining evening at Crazy for You. The show included a treasure trove of Gershwin classics including 'Someone To Watch Over Me', 'I Got Rhythm', 'They Can't Take That Away From Me', 'Embraceable You' and 'Nice Work If You Can Get It'.
The large cast were headlined by Charlie Stemp (Bobby) and Carly Anderson (Polly).  The acting, singing and dancing talents of these stars and the rest of the cast were outstanding.
  Crazy for You is a romantic comedy musical with a book by Ken Ludwig, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and music by George Gershwin. The musical tells the story of a boy, a girl, and a theatre in need of salvation. Stage-struck Bobby Child works as a banker for his overbearing mother, Lottie, but spends his off hours practicing dance routines and sneaking in to audition for Zangler’s Follies, the most popular show in New York City Unfortunately, Bobby’s showbiz career is going nowhere, so when Lottie demands that he investigate a far-away customer who has defaulted on a mortgage, Bobby jumps at the chance to get out of town. Arriving in hot, quiet Deadrock, Nevada, Bobby falls for Polly Baker, the postmistress, whose father happens to own the beautiful, but decaying, Gaiety Theatre, which he has been sent to seize. Now lovestruck, Bobby comes up with a plan: call in his friends, the Follies Girls, all the way from New York City, cast the locals-- a bunch of rundown cowboys with latent musical talent–and put on a show to save the old building. The plot develops in many amusing ways and, of course, Bobby and Polly fall in love.
This is probably one of the best musicals seen by RSTC in the West End in a long time. The sheer energy of the stars and the rest of the cast is to be marvelled at, in a theatre well-used to staging hit musicals going back to 1981 when - under the name 'New London Theatre' - it hosted the original production of 'Cats'.