Let’s Dance Again! – Royal Festival Hall

Charlene Ford in Let’s Dance Again at the Royal Festival Hall, London, Picture: Roy Tan

Let’s Dance Again! was performed at the Royal Festival Hall, London.

Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩

There is no doubt that there is something about the Hollywood musicals of the 1930s, 40s and 50s that allows them to be seen as something of a Golden Age of the genre. Maybe it was the music, with studios being able to draw on talents of the Gershwins, Porter, Berlin and more. Maybe it was the frenetic, flawlessly executed dance sequences. Maybe it was the actors who, working their way through the fabled star system, could enliven the dullest piece with their charisma. Maybe it was all of those things.

Whatever, a celebration of such an era is always welcome. John Wilson’s orchestral reconstructions of movie scores are now an annual fixture in the BBC Proms; the Hollywood-inspired American Smooth has become part of the Strictly Come Dancing standard repertoire. So a show celebrating the choreography of the movies’ golden age ought to be a no-brainer.

The result is Let’s Dance Again!, with choreographer Nick Winston attempting to re-create classic dance sequences of the era on the stage of the Royal Festival Hall. With a full orchestra conducted by Elliot Davis on stage, the cast of ten dancers (four principals and an all-male ensemble of six) rattle through some 17 numbers, mixing the instantly recognisable (Marilyn Monroe’s most famous number, ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’, from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) with the rather less well known (if anybody immediately recognised ‘Ballin’ the Jack’ from the Danny Kaye vehicle On the Riviera, they deserve a medal).

With no narration and no song list in the programme, perhaps the best thing to do is just sit back and enjoy the dance. And when one is able to do just that, the show really comes alive. Charlene Ford’s ability to have the entire ensemble eating out of the palm of her hand – a role she is given at several points in the evening – really demonstrates that the trope of a group of men swooning over a femme fatale produced some truly great on-screen dancing.

The show’s other female principal, Charlotte Gooch, also gets her moments with the ensemble, but comes alive in her more balletic solos and duets with Alan Burkitt and Matthew Malthouse. Both male principals demonstrate the agility, strength and grace that Hollywood leading men were expected to have. Burkitt’s turn as Fred Astaire in a rendition of ‘Cheek to Cheek’ is his highlight. This is Malthouse’s show, though, and his explosive renditions of tap and mock-balletic sequences elevate every performance he is in.

What also helps elevate Malthouse is that he is able to marry his energetic dancing with such a strong singing voice. In such a dance-heavy show it is risky indeed to expect the entire cast to be able to sing through at all times; after all, the Hollywood idols they are emulating were able to lip-sync to pre-recorded vocals. However, while all the cast do their best, at times it is clear that in the battle for fidelity between feet and voice, the dancing shoes win.

Of course, it is not always possible to tell that when there are so many problems with the sound as in this show. Throughout Act I, nearly every number is spoiled by one or more of the performers’ microphones not working. At one point, as Burkitt and Malthouse clearly match each other during a duet of ‘’S Wonderful’, the only vocals that can be discerned are Malthouse’s, with the clatterings of the backstage ensemble being louder than Burkitt’s unamplified voice.

The occasional sound blunder can easily be waved away without harming one’s enjoyment of the show as a whole. Unfortunately, such continued and pervasive problems did cast a pall on a concept which undoubtedly works. Should Davis and his orchestra reunite with a troupe of dancers whose singing ability can be heard by all, it will be a show worth recommending.

Scott Matthewman

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Interview – Let’s Dance Again choreographer Nick Winston celebrates Hollywood hoofers