High Society review – smooth musical hardly misbehaves but the songs are heavenly

Barbican theatre, LondonImpeccable vocals and slick staging make for dazzling set pieces in a tame production that’s missing the emotional centre of the 1956 film Five years ago, the Barbican staged the first of three Cole Porter musicals in quick succession. A sublime revival of Anything Goes was fun, frothy and polished to perfection. Kiss Me, Kate followed, and now this show, about the romantic shenanigans of the American east coast gentry. Immaculate in its song and dance, it is smoothly staged from the minute the (doomed) multitiered cake is wheeled on for the upcoming wedding in Long Island. But something is missing from the love triangle between socialite Tracy Lord (Helen George), her pining ex-husband Dexter (Julian Ovenden) and square fiance George (David Seadon-Young) – with undercover journalist Mike (Freddie Fox) thrown into the romantic pot for good measure. That missing something makes it a mechanical carousel of set pieces without the human drama, despite characterful but accompanying parts in Felicity Kendal’s wry Mother Lord and Nigel Lindsay’s charmingly roguish Uncle Willie. It bears the same pastel-coloured floatiness as the 1956 film on which it is par