Crazy for You review: a ‘divine’ revival that will ‘knock you for six’
Musical theatre ‘doesn’t get any better’ than this Chichester Festival production

Chichester has a monster hit on its hands with this “divine” revival of Crazy for You, said Arifa Akbar in The Guardian. First staged on Broadway in 1992, it is largely based on George and Ira Gershwin’s 1930 musical Girl Crazy, but it incorporates some classic numbers from other parts of the Gershwin oeuvre.
The show’s original choreographer, Susan Stroman, also directs, and the result is “spectacular entertainment” – a giddy feast of irresistible physical comedy and punning wisecracks, infectious melodies and, perhaps best of all, a fabulous “whirligig” of dancing – “tap, ballroom, chorus-line and balletic movement, all effortlessly athletic”.
This “magnificent” production will “knock you for six”, agreed Dominic Cavendish in The Daily Telegraph. As with Cole Porter’s Anything Goes (1934), its theme is a simple one, about that relatable “yearning to break free, escape the rat race and follow your passion”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Bobby, the scion of a New York banking family, is sent to foreclose on an ailing theatre in the small town of Deadrock, Nevada – but on arrival he is instantly smitten by the place, and by Polly, the young woman who runs it.
The madcap plot that follows loads an awful lot onto the “shoulders (and dancing shoes) of Charlie Stemp”, who plays “the banker with a heart of gold”, but he is simply sensational. He switches deftly between “rubber-limbed goofball and epitome of debonair charm”, and achieves an apparent “weightlessness in his waltzes, quick-turns and tap frenzies you never tire of watching”. And he is matched for “poise and sparkle” by Carly Anderson as Polly.
In a show packed with classic numbers (including Someone to Watch Over Me and Nice Work If You Can Get It), Anderson has the best tunes, and she sings them beautifully, said Patrick Marmion in the Daily Mail.
As for Stemp, he displays the “physical comedy of Norman Wisdom and the dancefloor artistry of Fred Astaire”, confirming his place as a true star of the genre. Musical theatre really “doesn’t get any better than this”.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Chichester Festival Theatre, West Sussex. Until 4 September
-
October 13 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Monday's political cartoons include Donald Trump's consolation prize, government workers during shutdown, and more
-
Can Gaza momentum help end the war in Ukraine?
Today's Big Question Zelenskyy’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles hints at ‘warming relations’ between Ukraine and US
-
The Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners being released
The Explainer Triumphant Donald Trump addresses the Israeli parliament as families on both sides of the Gaza war reunite with their loved ones
-
The delightful, smutty world of Jilly Cooper
In the Spotlight Millions mourn the ‘Mrs Kipling of sex’
-
Lee Miller at the Tate: a ‘sexy yet devastating’ show
The Week Recommends The ‘revelatory’ exhibition tells the photographer’s story ‘through her own impeccable eye’
-
6 eye-catching rounded homes
Feature Featuring a central spiral staircase in Michigan and a Balinese-style estate with ocean views in Hawaii
-
A House of Dynamite: a ‘nail-biting’ nuclear-strike thriller
The Week Recommends ‘Virtuoso talent’ Kathryn Bigelow directs a ‘fast-paced’ and ‘tense’ ‘symphony of dread’
-
The Finest Hotel in Kabul: a ‘haunting’ history of modern Afghanistan
The Week Recommends Lyse Doucet’s sensitively written work traces over 50 years of Kabul’s ‘Inter-Con’ hotel
-
The Smashing Machine: Dwayne Johnson is ‘magnetic’ in gritty biopic
The Week Recommends The wrestler-turned-Hollywood-actor takes on the role of troubled UFC champion Mark Kerr
-
Shadow Ticket: Thomas Pynchon’s first novel in over a decade
The Week Recommends Zany whodunnit about a private eye in 1930s Milwaukee could be the 88-year-old author’s ‘last hurrah’
-
Southern barbecue: This year’s top three
Feature A weekend-only restaurant, a 90-year-old pitmaster, and more