Theatre review: Save The Last Dance, King’s Theatre, Glasgow

THE phrase “jukebox musical” isn’t often used as a term of approval.

Yet if you want evidence that it’s possible to do this routine theatrical job with some real elegance and heart, then you should invest a couple of hours in Bill Kenwright and Laurie Mansfield’s latest 1960s tribute show, playing in Glasgow this week.

Written by the classic British team of Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, the show is set in England around 1962, and tells the story of an apparently doomed romance between pretty 17-year-old Luton schoolgirl Marie and a black American airman stationed at a base near Lowestoft, where Marie goes on an unglamorous caravan holiday with her older sister, Jennifer.

The backbone of the show lies in the series of 34 dazzling early-60s songs – from Sweets For My Sweet to And Then He Kissed Me – churned out with terrific flair by a happy-looking cast of 16, including a fine seven-piece band.

Alongside the music, though, this show also offers some thoughtful reflections on racism in Britain and America half a century ago, and on the spirit of an age that set out to conquer it.

There’s some superb, simple, smooth jive choreography, and three loveable leading performances.

And at the end, we have a tribute not only to the music of the early 60s, but to the cultural shift it represented – towards a new world of hope and equality that, in some ways, seems as far beyond our reach as ever.

Rating: ****