Let's Misbehave, Salisbury Playhouse (From Daily Echo)

Let's Misbehave, Salisbury Playhouse

9:32am Wednesday 21st December 2011 in Stage Reviews By Brendan McCusker

COLE Porter wrote more than 800 exquisitely crafted songs, many featuring in more than 40 theatre productions between 1916 and 1956.

He wrote catchy melodies and witty, sophisticated lyrics. His creative harmonic progressions: “...how strange the change/ from major to minor...” and his imaginative words: “...when I’m out on a quiet spree/ fighting vainly the old ennui...” blend perfectly to produce timeless and thoughtprovoking songs.

In the intimate space of Salisbury Playhouse’s Salberg Studio, three superbly professional performers deliver a stylish celebration of Porter’s best-loved numbers.

Glyn Kerslake on effortless piano and vocals, together with dynamic singers Ian McLarnon and Liza Pulman, provide informative snippets on Porter’s career between excellent versions of his songs, particularly the slick counterpoint medley of the edgy I Get A Kick Out Of You and the classic I’ve Got You Under My Skin.

From the quirky narrative Miss Otis Regrets and the bluesy What Is This Thing Called Love to the swinging Just One of Those Things and the close harmonies of I Concentrate On You, this show nails the essence of Cole Porter – languidly controversial lyrics and hooky melodies.

Outstanding were Make It Another Old- Fashioned, Please, conveying the bittersweet melancholia of a 1930s Manhattan nightclub at 3am, and the extraordinary Love For Sale.

Reputedly Porter’s favourite composition, Love For Sale is the plaintively perceptive song of a prostitute: “...old love, new love/ any love but true love...”

Brilliant show! Runs until January 14.