High Society
Cole Porter and Arthur Kopit
Trafalgar Theatre Productions
Lowry, Salford
22 September - 3 October, 2026: 2 hours 25 minutes
(Also at Nottingham Theatre Royal 3-7 November and other venues)
This version of Cole Porter’s 1956 hit film (with Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra) is not its first adaptation for the theatre, but under the care of director Rachel Kavanaugh it must be one of the most enjoyable and slickest productions yet.
In its latest form (out on tour after several weeks in the West End) it’s become almost a jukebox collection of Cole Porter hits, with even more insertions from his other stage shows than on previous outings – and all so seamlessly put together that it’s all the better for it.
Add to that leading cast members of experience and bankable talent – together with a troupe of song-and-dance hoofers to sock it to us in new choreography by Anthony Van Laast – and the drawing power of Helen George (Call the Midwife’s Trixie), and it’s a winner.
Helen, last seen on the Lowry stage as Anna in The King and I, has discovered (or re-discovered) her chest voice for this show. It suits her timbre (and her) better than that previous vehicle, and – with Strictly experience also in her resumé, of course – she dances and belts out the numbers with energy and verve.
She’s got her tonsils round the American accent, too … well, almost all the time, though I expect her many fans will find it all the more charming when she pops in a touch of the cut-glass, properly brought-up English girl intonation she made her hallmark on the telly.
The story begins, as in the film, with a gauze proclaiming “Welcome to Newport” – that’s Newport, Rhode Island, home of the very wealthy, where Tracy Lord, once divorced and about to tie the knot disastrously again, lives with her mum and dad. There’s a sailing yacht in the harbour called “True Love” – which belongs to her ex, Dexter Haven (the Bing Crosby role), who turns up somewhat unexpectedly with a model of it (a very tiny one, scarcely visible from more than a few rows back) and determined to sabotage her uxorial plans. Now there’s a cue for a song, of course, and “True Love” comes just before the close of both the first Act and the second.
Things are complicated by (a) a couple of undercover reporters, Mike and Liz, gate-crashing and looking to dish the dirt on the Lord family, and in particular (b) Tracy’s father’s philanderings; and (c) Tracy’s Uncle Willie, a bit of a ladies man himself, such that once they know what’s going on, the family attempt to pretend he is really her dad (and vice versa).
“Who wants to be a millionaire?” sing Liz and Mike as they see the riches of the Lord residence – and, although almost every other number in the first Act is actually plundered from another Cole Porter show, it’s all stitched together so neatly that “I love Paris”, “Be A Clown”, “Once Upon a Time”, “All of You” and others all seem to fit the unfolding scenario perfectly. It closes with a jazz band (it was led by Satchmo in the film) live on stage for a very lively pre-wedding party.
Later that night, Act Two opens with “Well, did you evah?”, as it was a swell party in every way. And it’s not over, as Tracy gets steadily drunker (well done by Helen George) and finishes up carried to her bed by Mike, with hit songs such as “Let’s misbehave”, “Just one of those things”, “You’re sensational”, “You’d be so nice to come home to” (a reconciliation number for Tracy’s parents), and “It’s all right with me” rushing past. And “I’ve got you under my skin” is brought along, to get Liz and Mike closer together, before the film’s “Samantha” and reprised “True Love” segué into “Let’s do it” (no, not the Victoria Wood one) to close the show.
Julian Ovenden is excellent as Dexter, the songs sitting pretty well on his baritone compass, and Freddie Fox takes Mike (the Sinatra role) nicely. Nigel Lindsay has a whale of a time as Uncle George, and two younger performers who made a real impact last night were Carly Mercedes Dyer as Liz and Imogen Bailey as Tracy’s precocious younger sister, Dinah. Malcolm Sinclair is a welcome TV face as their father, and spare a thought for David Seadon-Young as George – why is that accountants are always gormless in theatre shows?
There are several extended dance numbers for the ensemble to strut their stuff, and of course it all ends happily. (NB Helen George will not perform on 25or 26 September).
