High Society Review: what a swell party this is... and you're invited!
03 November 2026 | 19:30 | Theatre Royal, Nottingham
⭐⭐⭐⭐ | PR - Invite
The golden age of Hollywood has yielded some of the nation's favourite pieces of musical theatre, and Cole Porter's High Society is one in this prestigious lineup. For this production, London's Barbican Theatre and Trafalgar Entertainment re-unite in their successful partnership, having produced the likes of Anything Goes (2021) and Porter's Kiss Me, Kate (2024). Now on the penultimate stop of its UK Tour, High Society comes to Nottingham Theatre Royal for one week only, directed by Rachel Kavanaugh.
First adapted from Philip Barry's 1939 play The Philadelphia Story, High Society gained popularity through its 1956 film which stars Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly and Bing Crosby. The musical follows glamorous socialite Tracy Lord (Call The Midwife's Helen George), who is set to marry the wealthy, yet humourless George Kittredge on her family's Long Island estate. That is until Tracy's ex-husband Dexter Haven arrives, alongside a tabloid reporter assigned to document the high profile wedding, as sparks fly in every direction!
My love affair with Cole Porter grows more and more every year, whose musical lightness makes for the most divine of evenings. And this is next to his lyrical brilliance, especially in Well Did You Evah!, an absurd party-gossip duet with a rhyming jollity to it. After the show, I can't get 'Have you heard, it's in the stars / Next July we collide with Mars' out of my head, especially when it is reprised in the curtain call!
The production is fronted by Helen George, whose Tracy Lord is a crowd-pleaser with elegant solos and bizarre drunken habits. Although her emotional range wavers for such a commanding role, with an American accent that seems to slip into a Cher impression every few words. And against such a refined and punchy ensemble, George tends to dance a beat behind the music with less enthusiasm, which really stands out in the large group numbers.
Between Julian Ovenden and Carly Mercedes Dyer, we have two utterly world-class West End performers hitting the touring stage. Ovenden's gentlemanly Dexter Haven is a stylish and debonair romantic, who has exceptional stage chemistry with all his scene partners. And Dyer's (as photographer Liz Imbrie) rendition of 11 o-clock number I've Got You Under My Skin is simply stunning, in every sense of the word.
The pre-show curtain greets audiences as a giant 'Welcome To Newport' postcard, which is dominated by a painting of the Lord's family mansion. Following the overture (in which Dan McLaughlin leads a luxurious 13-piece live orchestra), the curtain lifts and a three-dimensional mansion now appears. There is no expense spared through Tom Rogers' design, which also features a drop-down swimming pool illusion and a stage-wide drooping tree, decorated with fairy lights. These additional pieces really elevate its storytelling into something quite special and well-considered.
Jon Morrell's costume designs echo this opulent aesthetic: rich people always have the most fun! Especially the dresses, which hold a great sense of movement in Let's Misbehave, a dynamic Act Two showstopper from choreographer Anthony van Laast. Creatively, Howard Hudson's lighting add a general brightness and warmth to scenes, which allows audiences to feel at ease and receptive to the show's comedy.
Freddie Fox's Mike Connor (of House of the Dragon fame) suffers from a similar issue to George with his accent work, occasionally with a Kermit The Frog vocal tone, but manages to gloss over this with a loveable charisma and cheeky partnership with Dyer. Supporting comical interludes from Josefina Gabrielle (Mother Lord) and Nigel Lindsay (Uncle Willie) round the musical off with an eccentric humour, who are both easy to adore.
Although slightly inconsistent in performance standard, this high-value revival of High Society is a shining example of Cole Porter's material at its best. Where its setting is in the 1930s, Kavanaugh's production feels surprisingly contemporary in attitude, given a breath of fresh air. The average audience demographic tends to be on the older side, but as a younger viewer, I still found a great deal to adore in this elaborate staging of a classic.
Playing at Theatre Royal, Nottingham until November 7th: https://highsocietymusical.com/
