High Society

Synopsis

The Champagne Musical includes songs such as "Let's Do It", "Who Wants to be a Millionaire", "In the Still of the Night" etc. The show is set in the fashionable High Society world of Philadelphia, Tracy Samantha Lord is engaged to be married to the dependable George Kitteredge. However her wedding plans are disrupted by the arrival of her ex-husband C K Dexter Haven and two reporters from the tabloid press, who are keen to publish scandalous stories about Tracy's father and his affair with an 'exotic dancer' ! The wedding does eventually go ahead - but who does Tracy marry?!

Our Review:

23 December 2009

As a movie, High Society was a thief that stole its class. It’s not the familiar MGM polish that’s kept the memory alive, it’s the glittering cast (Crosby, Kelly, Sinatra) plus a small handful of great Cole Porter numbers. So when Arthur Kopit, the playwright of Indians and book writer of Nine, was hired to craft a full-on stage musical from such thin material – itself a flat retread of The Philadephia Story – he had a job on his hands.

Kopit’s answer was to throw songs at it. Heaven knows, the Porter back catalogue is rich in forgotten gems, and a fair few of these turn up in the stage show. Happily it kind of works, as the limp plot now merely serves to link up the numbers.

Director John Plews has had the bold idea of transposing the action to a privileged England. That kind of works too: the True Love is now moored on the Solent, the wannabe millionaires are US interlopers and the British ...

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Latest User Review

Gareth James - 18 January 2010:

It's very brave of a fringe theatre like this to stage such a big musical, but Upstairs at the Gatehouse does it proud. They work miracles moving from veranda to parlour to pool to ballroom (with the set changes staged to keep you amused). The cast sing Cole Porter's classics well (and boy are there a lot of them) with excellent backing from a small band and there are some great comic moments, particularly from 'Uncle Willy'. In the end, though, the story and book aren't realy good enough. Great production of a mediocre show....

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