It was, to be frank, a bit of a new experience to be in a packed Devonshire Park Theatre for the press night of their new summer show, Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance. I’m usually the youngest one in half an audience, but not this time. Full (young) house ahoy!
Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance returns this year to celebrate a century of screen musicals, from classics such as 42nd Street and An American in Paris, to newer hits like Mama Mia and Hairspray.
With a cast of just six – some returning from last year, some brand new – performing sixty songs in just over two hours, and with 105 costume changes, this show could have felt a little frenetic but it doesn’t: instead you feel as if you’re strolling through your favourite screen moments at a lovely leisurely pace and that’s down to the super-talented cast making it all look so easy.
A simple set-up – the name of the show lit up in bulbs at the back of the stage, and a discretely sized screen showing images of the original films and stars – keeps the stage uncluttered and lets the dancing speak for itself, with the small band/big sound tucked away at the back (you can just see their heads).
A couple of stand-offs in the first half provide some structure to the show, but you know very well who’s going to win in a USA v Britain contest when the names Bonnie Langford, Lionel Blair and Bruce Forsyth are called up to do battle with Ginger Rogers, Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. It’s like Jedward squaring up to The Stones, but the concept does make for good segues from one number to the next. And tap dancing versus the spoons anyone?
Astaire and Kelly are to the fore again (how couldn’t they be in a show like this?) in a warm homage to the two dancing greats, and choreographer Nick Winston turns up hoofing trumps with a spine-tingling tap interlude in I’ve Got Rhythm. It’s certainly as good as anything I’ve seen in the West End.
In fact, Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance makes you feel like the West End has come to the seaside for it’s holiday as most of the cast have been dancers and understudies in major shows, with square-jawed hottie Simon Adkins bravely admitting that he’s just finished a stint in doomed Spice Girls musical Viva Forever.
All six actors shine, but it’s the boys that shine brightest, with Adkins bringing an American musical theatre sensibility to the piece as well as a towering ruggedness, while Adam Rhys-Charles has a sweetness about him and a vocal clarity that would make him the ideal male lead. David McMullan (who some of you might know as one half of Dickie and Dave) is the light relief, but he can belt out songs as good as the rest.
Alison Dormer is hilarious in Two On the Aisle’s If (no, me neither) as she pops a cap into no-good boyfriend McMullan and then proceeds to abuse his corpse (trust me, it’s much funnier than it sounds).
The first half ends with a delightfully unusual Singin’ in the Rain where the cast tell us about the trials of filming the scene. Apparently Gene Kelly was ill and the whole thing was done in just two takes so he could go back to bed, milk was mixed in with the water to make the rain show up on camera, and Kelly’s tapping had to be dubbed on later as the water drowned it out. Consequently, director Chris Jordan has opted to stage his version with a girl and boy standing at the back of the stage singing and tapping while Kelly mimes and soft-shoes it in what looks awfully like real rain (but isn’t). It’s a nice, light touch that keeps the production engaging.
The second half is more straightforward and whips us through the last few decades with the likes of Les Mis, Grease, Mamma Mia, and Thriller (and yes, even a snatch of Viva Forever) and, although it never loses its inventiveness, it isn’t quite as thrillingly innovative as the first.
Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance is a sophisticated, slick show which takes itself seriously in the bits that call for it but a self-parodic streak runs through it like letters through a stick of Eastbourne rock, as in the show’s only original song (-in-two-halves) Tayor, the Latte Boy, a tale that begins all sweetness and light but ends with a dark, funny twist, and the finale, a whistlestop look at today’s West End performed in just three minutes (despite Adkins desperate, “We can’t do that. I’m 33 and I’m knackered!”)
You’ll be hard pressed to find a more perfect and enjoyable evening’s entertainment after a stressful day’s sunbathing. Joyous and uplifting, Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance also saves you the train fare to the big smoke. I mean, why go to the West End when the West End willingly comes to you?
WHAT: Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance
WHERE: Devonshire Park Theatre, Compton Street, Eastbourne
WHEN: Until August 24, Tues – Sat 7.45pm, Wed & Sat mat 2.30pm
RUNNING TIME: Oooh, a bit over 2 hours
TICKETS: £9 – £20.50
MORE INFO, CLICK HERE:
WOULD I SEE IT AGAIN: Yep, and I’d take all my mates, and my cats
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