Save The Last Dance For Me is one of many so-called “jukebox” musicals that have been created over the last 10 years or so and tells the tale of two girls from Luton, seventeen year old Marie (played by Elizabeth Carter) and her older sister, Jennifer (Lola Saunders) who head off on their very first unsupervised holiday, leaving their very worried parents (Rachel Nottingham and Kieran Kuypers) at home.
Set to a fantastic soundtrack of songs by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, the show features million selling tunes, and some of the lesser known ones, by the likes of Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, The Searchers, The Drifters, Ben E King and very many more. The production features, quite heavily, the topics of racism and mixed race relationships and, to emphasise this, a lot of the music is very “deep south” with some brilliant blues songs throughout.
Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, the brains behind the enormously successful Dreamboats and Petticoats, (and it’s sequel Dreamboats and Miniskirts) have obviously worked out that they have a winning formula with this kind of show because this production, with it’s huge dose of early ’60s nostalgia, is very obviously straight out of the same stable.
The format, which cleverly mixes a storyline with the hits of the period, is very similar to Dreamboats, but with Save The Last Dance For Me the action takes place in that “happening” holiday destination – Lowestoft. Once the girls get settled into their caravan they find that the Suffolk weather, reminiscent of so many British summers, is wet and dreary but, just when they think their holiday is a washout, along comes the handsome American airman Milton (Antony Costa). He invites them to a dance at the local American Air Force base, and there the story really begins.
There are no weak links in this cast of actor/musicians with Elizabeth Carter and X-Factor finalist Lola Saunders, the two female leads, together with Sackie Osakonor, who plays the character of Sergeant Rufus, leading the vocal performances with Antony Costa, from boyband Blue, who takes the role of Milton the stereotypical US Air Force ladies’ man, also showing off his strong voice – and a surprisingly good American accent.
The love story, around which the show revolves, involves Marie and Curtis, a role that is played with great feeling and dignity by Wayne Robinson. He voices the fears of most African Americans at that time very well, and he offers quite a chilling reminder that the time we are talking about is not that long ago. He gets most of the love songs in the production and showcases a voice that is a perfect combination of both power and emotion.
With the entire cast constantly switching between acting, dancing, singing and playing the live music this is a true ensemble piece and, without doubt, the highlights of the show are the full company a capella versions of the songs Sweets For My Sweet and Hushabye, which prompt a huge reaction from the very enthusiastic Congress Theatre audience.
**** 4 stars