WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHERE: Vaudeville Theatre
WHEN: 4/3 (matinee), press night 14/3, runs to 17/6
A foot fracture meant Tamzin Outhwaite had to withdraw from this production shortly before its first preview and is replaced by Kate Verner here.
- Read on for reasons including which cast member’s sister will join the show
It’s a shame because this show has completed a regional tour and it’s already really slick. Verner makes for a perfectly capable replacement for Outhwaite’s dance teacher and from this week will be stepping down to make way for Anna-Jane Casey, sister of cast member Natalie Casey.
Stepping Out is the story of seven women and a man who join each week for tap dancing lessons in a rundown hall and are challenged to polish their craft and take part in a charity gala.
Written by Richard Harris, it won the Evening Standard Comedy Of The Year Award in 1984 and was later adapted into a film starring Julie Walters and Liza Minelli. The subject of the film, dancers bonding at an amateur tap class and seeking triumph over adversity, was suggested by the author’s wife who’d found joy in a similar setting.
The cast is top-notch here, particularly Amanda Holden who’s nursing a cleaning obsession, Tracy-Ann Oberman who’s not afraid to speak up for herself and goofy Natalie Casey.
It’s a fine ensemble, the dancing is terrific, play long an laughs and it deserves to find its audience and thrill them.
