Review of ‘Save the last dance for me’ at Leeds Grand Theatre on 08/04/13 by Lucy Meredith (@lulovesglitter) …
On Monday evening I went along to the opening night of ‘Save the last dance for me’. It was interesting to discover that all the songs in the musical were written by the writing duo Pomus & Shuhman. Not a pair I had heard of before, but their songs on the other hand include some absolute classics from the 50’s & 60’s including ‘Viva las Vegas’ and ‘Teenager in Love’
The musical itself was obviously a vehicle from which to showcase the work of Pomus & Shuhman but why not? They have written some pretty amazing songs which fortunately are diverse enough to hang a storyline off. It was a night of fun and escapism and was certainly not the only member of the audience bobbing (and singing at times) along with the music.
The plot follows two sisters from Luton, holidaying in Lowestoft (yes very glamorous) and their holiday romances; which juxtaposed their mundane surroundings with the exciting world of the American army base. Although the plot was simply a device to get from song to song, there were still some nice moments which drew you into the world of the characters. I especially enjoyed the roles of ‘Jennifer’ (the lead’s older sister) and ‘Carlo’ her holiday fling the Italian/Brummy Ice cream man. Their relationship provided some great comical interludes as well as being fantastic singers.
The whole cast were very well chosen as they were all incredibly talented and provided the audience with a polished performance. They made singing; dancing and playing a multitude of musical instruments look easy. I did prefer the more upbeat full cast numbers to the ballads ‘Viva las Vegas’ was a particular highlight, though the ‘Be my baby’ duet was also very engaging.
One thing I did notice was that when some characters performed solo numbers, they seemed to keep their arms pinned to their sides. I can only assume that they are trying to get away from the school of jazz hands and over gesticulating (less is more!) On the whole it was a slick performance from a highly accomplished group of performers and musicians. I thoroughly enjoyed myself; the cast looked like they were enjoying themselves too! So they should as they were amazing. A great night out.