It is not uniformly the case that every play or film should or needs to be a musical, but when the film has a score by Cole Porter, and the original play is the ever-protean Philadelphia Story, then it was almost inevitable that Broadway, and now the Barbican, should beckon. The story and plotlines are slight – shennanigans at the Newport wedding celebrations of socialite Tracy Lord – but with a witty book, elegant sets and costumes, and the effervescent charm and fizz of Porter’s perfectly poised music, it is an infectiously winning and seductive night out.
In many ways it is a step beyond the 1950s film that used to be standard Christmas fare. The show has been bulked out with a range of classic numbers that were never part of the original but slide naturally into place in line with the composer’s practice of shuffling songs between shows as needed. Moreover, there are extended choreographed sections that showcase the skills of the ensemble and bring out the complex jazz-inflected rhythms that are never far from the surface of the music. There is a superb band, under Stephen Ridley’s incisive direction, and the set by Tom Rogers, provides an elegant Beaux-Arts backdrop while leaving plenty of flexible space for the dramatic action whether on forestage or sweeping double staircase.
So the framework of slick, polished and frothy performance is well laid. What is required to ice the cake is a depth and range of characterisation, and here success is not wholly uniform.
Helen George has the energy, dancing skills and comic timing to capture much of the charm of the heroine, Tracy Lord. But some of the trickier songs she clearly finds taxing, and we miss the kind of screwball zaniness that is Katherine Hepurn’s indelible legacy – from the film – to this role. Julian Ovenden, on the other hand, is uniformly excellent as CK Dexter Haven. Fully on top of the wide range of vocal material, he also has the sly, debonair banter the role demands. Felicity Kendal is, in a sense, luxury casting as Mother Lord, but her acting whether on or off the speech is a joy, and Nigel Lindsay provides raffish energy as Uncle Willie, particularly in the number that celebrates jazz which ends the first half.. One should also acknowledge the thankless role played by David Seadon-Young as the tiresome, boring accountant, George Kittredge, the butt of everyone’s else’s humour.
But the real revelations in the cast are Freddie Fox and Carly Mercedes Dyer, as the two interloping journalists, who act as commentators on the excesses and eccentricities of the rest of the cast. I have never thought of Fox as a singer, but he performs with fine tone and genuine assurance, particularly in the classic duet with Ovenden, ‘Well, did you Evah?’ that sets the second half of the show in motion with rare wit and energy. Dyer was also responsible for what, for me, was the show’s musical high point, her rendition, towards the end, of ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin.’Â This was sung with rare power and technical skill, one of those moments when with a sideslip from major to minor you realise that Porter’s pristine surface is often just a brittle, brave, desperate front against the heartbreak of impossible love.
This is a show with superb production values that continues the run of success Porter revivals have enjoyed at the Barbican. While the first half is a bit too wordy and expository for its own good, the second has the necessary sweep of mood and music to recapture the bitter-sweet balance and effortless bravura required. It will be, and deserves to be, a popular success.
Music and Lyrics: Cole Porter
Book: Arthur Kopit
Director: Rachel Kavanaugh
Musical Director: Stephen Ridley
Cast includes: Carly Mercedes Dyer, Freddie Fox, Helen George, Felicity Kendal, Nigel Lindsay, Julian Ovenden, David Seadon-Young
Until 11 July 2026
2 hrs 30 mins, with interval
Photo Credit: Pamela Raith