Book by Joe Pietro
Inspired by material by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse
Music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin
Directed by Dave Smith
Musical Direction by Brigid Cummings
Reviewed by Len Power 1 November 2024
Broadway musicals from the 1920s generally followed a formula of light entertainment with throw-away stories, making most of the shows in their original form unrevivable today. Unfortunately, most of the shows with music and lyrics by the Gershwins were written at that time.
“Nice Work If You Can Get It”, which opened on Broadway in 2012, takes the basic idea of bootlegging during Prohibition from the 1926 Gershwin musical, “Oh, Kay”, but fashions a new, gently satirical story stuffed with music from the Gershwin catalogue. The result is a show that follows the style of musicals from that era but pokes fun at characters, situations, manners and 20s musicals themselves with a modern-day sensibility.
Queanbeyan Players, with Dave Smith directing, have given us a lavish staging of this delightful show with fine performances from a strong cast who sing, dance and act their roles with skill and enthusiasm.
Luke Ferdinands as the rich, much-married playboy, Jimmy Winter, gives a fine, comical performance and Sienna Curnow plays the bootlegger, Billie Bendix, with warmth, wit and tons of energy. Both performers sing very well with a fine sense of the style of the era. Her singing of “Someone To Watch Over Me” and their duet “S’Wonderful” are outstanding amongst their many songs in the show.
Amongst the strong cast of leading players, Anthony Swadling as the bootlegger and pretend butler, Cookie, and Anna Tully, as Jimmy’s wife-to-be, Eileen Evergreen, give memorable comedic performances. Both are fine singers, too.
Kay Liddiard as Jeannie, a chorus girl, and John Whinfield as Duke, a not very bright, rough bootlegger, are delightfully funny in their performance of the song, “Do It Again”. Lillee Keating as the uptight Duchess, a crusader for Prohibition, is a standout with her performance of the song, “Looking For A Boy”, after her lemonade has been spiked.
Steven O’Mara, Pat Gallagher and Fiona Hale all have their moments to shine. The Vice Squad members and the Chorus Girls sing, dance and perform with a fine sense of the style of the times.
Kirsten Smith’s choreography shows a good understanding of the styles of dance from shows of the 1920s and the costume designs of Jess Zdanowicz nicely evoke the era.
The music for the large number of Gershwin songs is played very well by the band under conductor, Brigid Cummins. Listen carefully for references to other Gershwin music in this cleverly arranged score.
Director, Dave Smith, has brought all the elements of this large and fast-moving show successfully together to give us a stylish, colourful and highly amusing entertainment.
Len Power's reviews are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 in the ‘Arts Cafe’ and ‘Arts About’ programs and published in his blog 'Just Power Writing' at https://justpowerwriting.blogspot.com/.
