Shall We Dance

The brains behind this show - its director, choreographer and leading man - is Adam Cooper: ex-Royal Ballet, Matthew Bourne's original male swan, the grown-up Billy Elliot and latterly a performer and choreographer of musical theatre.

'Shall We Dance' is basically a musical minus the singing, sweeping through jazz, tap, ballet and ballroom dance styles, with a medley of tunes by Richard Rodgers forming the backdrop for a flimsy story about a man, his drunken mate and their accidental travels around the globe, in which Cooper briefly falls for a girl in every port.

Quite who he is, how they got there or why he's so fickle with women is glossed over. It's a shame that while Cooper is a decent choreographer, especially of energetic ensemble pieces like a jumpin' hot jive or whooping hoedown, he's not a great dramatist.

Without dialogue, character or much in the way of acting to give us an emotional connection, what this amounts to is basically an extended overture. At least until the final scenes, where Cooper's real-life wife and former ballerina, Sarah Wildor, brings a new energy and intensity to their duetting, and the faintest whiff of plot.

As well as Wildor's return to the stage, much touted has been the appearance of former 'Dynasty' actress Emma Samms. A former student at the Royal Ballet School, Samms does have dance credentials, but she can't match up to the keenly honed pros, coming off like one of the better contestants on 'Strictly Come Dancing'.

As for Cooper, he can move, but he hasn't quite got the charisma to carry this thing. It might be time to admit that one man can't do everything himself.