Ruthie Henshall stars in the touring show That’s Entertainment!
That’s Entertainment! was reviewed at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley and continues touring until 10 September.
Rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩
This new incarnation of the touring show Puttin’ On the Ritz, now retitled That’s Entertainment!, has become a fully-fledged West End calibre musical revue.
However, aside of the fact that there is not a live orchestra, the main weakness remains the way the guest star is not really integrated into the show itself.
Whereas the great Lorna Luft could just be a a guest singer, bringing the Garland touch to Puttin’ On the Ritz, it becomes really frustrating not to see triple threat Ruthie Henshall taking part in the big production numbers, such as ‘I Got Rhythm’, especially since that finale featured in Crazy For You, the very show that made her a West End star in 1992.
Likewise, it would have been nice to have some of the great dancers of the show accompany her in ‘All That Jazz’, helping her re-create the iconic part of Velma Kelly in Chicago she played both in London and on Broadway.
True, different performers are going to guest star in this production during the tour, but since the programme states the show is subject to change at each performance, it would benefit the show enormously if its star wasn’t deliberately set apart from it.
Otherwise, the show is now a surefire entertainment, particularly in its brisker Act II, and thankfully the decision has been taken to get rid of some of the pre-recorded tapes and tackier costumes.
Fresh from her starring role as Lina Lamont in Singin’ in the Rain at the Chatelet in Paris, Emma Kate Nelson is always a joy to the eye and the ear. She has no less than three showstopping numbers with ‘A Couple of Swells’ (Easter Parade), ‘Get Happy’ (Summer Stock) and ‘Good Morning’ (Singin’ in the Rain).
Her partner in those songs and the spectacular tap number ‘It Don’t Mean a Thing’ is capable song and dance man Simon Schofield, who previously worked with Henshall as lead vocalist in her Sounds of Hollywood concert at the Royal Festival Hall and on tour.
Loula Geater, recently seen in The Mystery of Edwin Drood at the Landor and the Arts Theatre, has her moment with ‘Rock-a-bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody’ and X Factor contestant Sean Smith offers his version of ‘They Can’t Take That Away From Me’, staged like the Billy Flynn number from Chicago.
The Rat Pack tribute and the cockney knees-up section are entertaining,, but that’s entertainment after all so why not?! We really need this kind of show in these difficult times, so no more complains…
Well worth a visit.
Patrick Honoré
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