BWW Reviews: SAVE THE LAST DANCE FOR ME, Bristol Hippodrome, July 8 2013

Taking the audience back to the innocence of the 1960s through the hit music of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman among others, Save The Last Dance For Me is the story of young love between a teenaged British holiday maker and an American Air Force serviceman.

I am always in awe of the performers in actor-musician shows - the talent on display is made all the more apparent. Watching performers switch with ease between jiving with vim and brandishing a saxophone to belt out some blues is always impressive, and it's great to see the band live on stage, really getting into the spirit of the show. However, I have to say that I was unimpressed with the sound levels, particularly during the first act. I consider myself to have pretty good hearing, but I struggled throughout many of the more upbeat numbers to pick out the lyrics, with the singers frequently being drowned out by the band. The problem seemed to have been rectified by the second act, and I was able to enjoy the songs without straining to pick out the vocalists.

The two leads, Curtis and Marie, were played by Kieran McGinn and Elizabeth Carter, respectively. McGinn certainly looked the part, with his tall frame cutting a handsome figure in the US Air Force uniform, and his vocals were mostly spot on, while Carter brought a clear, sweet voice and endearing cuteness to her role. However, the nature of the show meant that the two characters were, at times, overly saccharine. Of course, having kind, wholesome leads is not, in itself, an issue, but for such a situation to work, I'm of the opinion that the actors really need to ensure that the audience truly feels for their characters, and as lovely as they both were, I didn't feel that I quite cared enough.

VeriTy Jones' keen interpretation of Marie's boy-crazy older sister Jennifer brought a hint of naughtiness and down-to-earth humour to the show. Jones' strong vocals were topped only by Jay Perry who, for me, was the star performer of the evening. As 'Sarge' Rufus, Perry gave a first class performance, demonstrating a velvety voice that had the audience entranced, and displaying hip shaking that Elvis himself would be proud of. At last night's performance, two understudies took to the stage: Alan Howell as Curtis' best bud Milton, and Joe McCourt as Italian-Brummy ice cream vendor Carlo. Both men held their own, with McCourt in particular providing some comedy moments.

Perhaps it was the oppressive heat in the theatre, or perhaps I'm just being too critical, but I felt that the ensemble weren't quite giving it their all in the dance numbers during the first act, with the characteristic 60s choreography being far from sharp. One stand-out exception to this was Niamh Bracken, who played the sultry and spurned Della and doubled up as the rather forward Leeds lass Doris. I often find there is one member of an ensemble I can't take my eyes off during the dance numbers, and in this show it was Bracken, who looked entirely at ease with every move and emitted a passion and presence akin to that of Cynthia Rhodes as Penny in Dirty Dancing.

I feel that this show very much relies on its score, and a little injection of naughtiness reminiscent of Shout, to carry it through. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it - the storyline was somewhat lacking, being rather flat and predictable with overly sweet lead characters, but it was lovely to see the crowd at the Hippodrome, made up mostly of folks from an older generation, soaking up the nostalgia and being taken back to a simpler time. Although the house wasn't packed, almost every theatre-goer was on their feet at the end, clapping and singing along and swaying to the wonderful sounds of a by-gone era. So if you're a hopeless romantic looking for an evening of classic 60s tunes, then head on down to the Hippodrome this week.

Save The Last Dance For Me is playing at the Bristol Hippodrome until Saturday 13 July. Buy your tickets here.

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