Lauded to the skies in Chichester three years ago, this exhaustingly jolly cabaret- musical reopens the May Fair Theatre. But, as a piece of 40s pastiche, it has not one iota of the wit: loosely assembled by a group of American jazz musicians, it is simply a collection of numbers in search of a story.
It is hard to see what precisely is being sent up. The setting is a dingy Singapore dive in 1941 populated by a resident jazz band and an amnesiac chanteuse. They seem dimly aware of the imminent Japanese invasion which at one point leads them to sing "I want to get off this island". But their main concern is with getting hold of some sacred Chinese gems and with searching for clunking cues for the next number.
I don't mind hokum; but this is lazy, ineptly written hokum. "You're lost without your passport," the corrupt British police chief cries to the amnesiac saloon singer: "I'm lost without my past, sport," is her dazzling reply. And it says much for the show's period feel that Issy van Randwyck, who plays the heroine with a brassy, not always justified self-confidence, is allowed to get away with an imitation Marilyn Monroe accent. But, to be fair, her character makes no sense: one minute she's meant to be daffy and the next a mistress of the microphone and accomplished performer on bicycle bells.
Individually the songs are good. They are the collective work of Erik Frandsen, Michael Garin, Robert Hipkens and Paula Lockheart and they veer from parody tango and conga to a genuinely plangent, mock-oriental number, Foolish Geese, hauntingly sung by Beatrice Grace. The onstage band is also first rate. Elio Pace as the blind pianist delivers with a raucous panache and there is lively support from James Lailey as the sharp-featured Duke of Uke and from Julian Tucker who plays a mean sax. Although Roger Redfarn directs enthusiastically, I was reminded of the old adage that a musical is only as good as its book - and this one is so awful I found it difficult to succumb to the party spirit.
Box Office: 020 7413 1415.
