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After the success of their last West End extravaganza ‘Midnight Tango’, international dancing champions and ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ stars Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace return with a film noir caper that takes you back to Hollywood’s golden age – a toe-tapping, show-stopping dance entertainment.
The story tells of two starlets who fall in love amid a murder, a case of mistaken identity and a jail term, all recounted via the heel-kicking delights of jive, tango and the charleston – to name but a few of the world class dance moves busted out here.
Things begin in the office of a louche, lazy private detective played by Teddy Kempner. Kempner keeps the plot afloat and the audience in fits of giggles with his constant gags and wry storyline narration.
He’s joined by the delectable Abbie Osmon as Lana Clemenza, the club singer-turned-murderess who has the perfect bum shake and warbling larynx. Musical theatre pros, they’re the ideal antidote to Cacace and Simone’s undoubtedly wooden mime acting.
But who really cares about that when their dancing is this good? During one showstopping sequence, the company enacts a slow-motion gangsters v cops fight while Simone and Cacace are caught up in the heat of an Argentinian tango sequence. It’s a showcase in pure talent.
And Cacace’s second act solo, when she tries to retrieve the incriminating photos that will clear Simone’s name and free him from jail, sizzles like Cyd Charisse through a rendition of ‘Summer Time’, mesmerising us as much as the gangsters.
But it’s the scintillating finale that will keep the theatre packed to capacity. Cacace and Simone do themselves proud with a raunchy, eye-watering tango that will have every wife booking lessons for their husbands and every husband running out to buy a slinky black dress.
Of course it’s silly, but it’s also sexy, steamy and full of pizzazz – a gaudy Hollywood romp worth its weight in glitter.