Ain't Misbehavin': Southwark Playhouse

Am I right in thinking this is a jazz juke box show?

Is it any good ?

Saw the West End revival in the mid nineties. A collection of songs done by Fats Waller (not all by him), the staging of that was pretty average and the video of the original Broadway cast doesn’t do anything much more exciting, These rarely work anymore unless you’re happy to see a low budget gig. The only one I’ve liked in years was the Bacharach one at the Menier, because the staging and arrangements were superior. A great choreographer like Hoggett can add something useful to it.

Not my favourite style of music (think Mamma Mia, Jersey Boys and Dreamboats and Petticoats... hangs head in embarrassed shame) but couldn't resist a £16 centre front row seat for the Tuesday preview matinee. I like venues where the audience can sit within such close proximity of the performers and the fixed preview prices at Southwark Playhouse are excellent value.

Just read an interview with Oti from Strictly about this in the Entertainment and Arts section of the BBC News web-site and it sounds like a lot of fun.I think my dancer daughter might enjoy this.I think a trip to Southwark is in order and a theatre I have never been to before.Sorry for being ignorant but on the BBC site it says that this version has been shortened with less songs than the Broadway version (sounds like from 30 down to 20) and am wondering if this show has been completely re-worked from the original? Any ideas?

The running time of the original was 2 hours including interval. According to the Southwark Playhouse the running time of this is 2 hours including interval, but the Colchester theatre gives it as 1 hour 50 including interval. So maybe some songs cut but can't be many. I wonder if there are some which have lyrics that would now be viewed as "problematic" (eg "Fat and Greasy" maybe)?

Nice to see Diane Abbott branching out from the House of Commons at the front of picture 6.

You're allowed to share official production pictures, you're just not allowed to take any yourself or share other unauthorised pics.

Thank you, @baemax and Someone in a tree; I wasn't aware of the differing rules regarding production photos.  I don't usually pay any attention to them, which is probably why, but these are very eye-catching.  Looking forward to reviews from the Colchester dates.

Saw today's matinee at the Elephant. Superb entertainment. Dont know what they are feeding the cast of five but i want some! Only 110 mins inc interval. Recommended 4 and half stars.

Saw this tonight. Great revue, great fun. As there is no book to speak of, I found the choreography that utilised storytelling more energising and effective than the choreography which was pure razzle dazzle. Peerless cast of 5.

Some spoilers follow. . .

This show is 2 hours (including an interval) of infectious choreography, vivacious charismatic performances and gorgeous Fats Waller songs that transport you straight back to the Harlem of the thirties.

For me, the key to the most rousing revue shows I've seen lies in making each song an involving story. The more the performers use props, and use each other as props, to tell the stories of the songs, the more charge, the more variety, the more memorable the performances.

So songs like "The Vipers Drag," in which a reefer is brandished and choreographically peddled, or "Lounging at the Waldorf," in which a table is laid, champagne served, and living large is dazzling put over, marvellously communicate Waller's exuberance and loucheness.

By contrast, comic songs like "Your Feet's too big" and "Fat and Greasy" don't quite work for me because nobody's feet are visibly big, noone is fat or greasy. Sure, I have an imagination, but it needs a little prodding to move me from second to third gear lol.

Anyway, the 5 performers are killing it. I especially love Renee Lamb (she of Catherine of Aragon Six Cast Recording fame) for her sonorousness and dynamism, and I love Carly Mercedes Dyer (Fate in Hadestown) for her zaniness and her electric soprano.

When all 5 performers harmonise,as on "Black and Blue," their voices combine so deliciously that no further storytelling is necessary. The story is heaven, whatever the lyrics say.

So, although there is not quite enough storytelling to remove all trace of saminess in this evening, for me, there is enough to allow some terrific old music to sound vital and fresh, to allow 5 fantastic performers to transport you back in time to a place of vitality and creativity and sheer entertainment. For a first directing gig, Tyrone Huntley done good!

4 stars from me.

I was there too but got held up in rail delays to London and arrived at the Playhouse at 3.15pm. They wouldn't let me in so missed the whole of the first half.

Enjoyed what I saw and just caught up with the US version on You Tube.

Oh yes, I wasn't intending my post to read as a complaint.