High Society review: smooth musical, heavenly songs but thin on drama

Five years ago the Barbican staged the first of three Cole Porter musicals. A sublime revival of Anything Goes was fun, frothy and polished to perfection; Kiss Me, Kate followed, and now this show, about the romantic shenanigans of the American east coast gentry, arrives.

Immaculate in its song and dance and smoothly staged from the minute the doomed multitiered cake is wheeled on for the upcoming Long Island wedding, it still lacks something in the love triangle between socialite Tracy Lord (Helen George), her pining ex-husband Dexter (Julian Ovenden) and square fiance George (David Seadon-Young), with undercover journalist Mike (Freddie Fox) thrown into the pot.

That missing element turns the evening into a mechanical carousel of set pieces rather than a story with human drama, even as Felicity Kendal’s wry Mother Lord and Nigel Lindsay’s roguish Uncle Willie add characterful support.

United States, Long Island

high society, cole porter, barbican, helen george, julian ovenden, david seadon-young, freddie fox, felicity kendal, nigel lindsay, long island