It’s that time of year again - the weather is getting warmer, the flowers are coming out, and love is in the air. The timing is perfect for a heart-warming boy-meets-girl musical. Indeed, as the lovers proclaim in Crazy for You, things are lookin’ up.

This musical, with music and lyrics by the famous Gershwin brothers and produced by Chris Moreno, opened on Monday night at the New Theatre. If you like big band music and fabulous dancing, mixed in with some spot-on comedy, you’re in for a treat. At the least, you’ll be singing your way home!

The evening begins with the instrumental melody of the famous songs this musical includes, played masterfully by the band, who definitely deserve special mention. In true big band style, when the trumpets start playing the entire theatre feels alive and all toes start tapping. It is a pity that the musicians (especially the trumpets) weren’t listed individually, but let’s hope that they play in Oxford again. Pure magic.

Melanie Stace of BBC’s The Generation Game leads the cast as country girl Polly Baker - strong, loud, and happy until city boy Bobby Child (played by Darren Bennett) enters her life. Stace’s Polly has the perfect demeanour, walk, and voice, belting out “Someone to Watch Over Me” with conviction. My favourite piece, however, had Melanie leading the entire company through an invigorating rendition of “I’ve Got Rhythm”. With the leggiest dancing girls ever and a group of ‘country men’ supporting and dancing along, this scene was the highlight of the evening. The men even give us a slight homage to Swan Lake- landing their turning leaps perfectly yet still making us laugh.

Struck by Cupid’s arrow, Bennett’s Bobby is equally convincing, with fabulous tap technique and comedic timing as his character moves through a series of roles and emotions. His character declares early on that “I’m dancing, and I can’t be bothered now”, which proved to be true as he proceeded to dance everywhere - on top of cars, chairs, stairs, you name it! But he was just as able to change his dancing according to his character, especially when pretending to be the New York producer Bela Zangler, and providing perfect comedic timing when the real and pretend Zangler meet face to face.

The cast is rounded out by enjoyable performances by Mark Wynter as (the real) Zangler, Audrey Leybourn as Lottie Child, Bobby’s mother, and even special appearances by those famous travel writers, the Fodors, played to hysterical laughing point by Christopher Beeny and an energetic Sue Hodge. Jenny Cox as Irene Roth, a wealthy New York socialite, has a voice like honey and the moves to match.

As a whole the production is slick, with great scenery and costumes. However, the scenery at times seems too big for the stage, squashing the dancing into corners at times. Nonetheless it’s an evening not to be missed: the music, the dancing, the laughs - who could ask for anything more?

Ami Shah, 10.5.4