Review: DISASTER!, Charing Cross Theatre, 20 November 2016

In a hotel room, jetlagged, I found 1980 comedy classic movie Airplane! on television and thought I'd just watch ten minutes. Well ten turned into 90, as I laughed and laughed into the daylight and the next morning's meeting became ever more er... challenging. What struck me were three key elements of its success: the very high gag per minute ratio; characters that you cared about; and a warmth shown towards the genre being spoofed. That's a combo much harder to pull off than to describe.

But Disaster! does just that. In London for a couple of semi-staged benefit shows, the Broadway hit crossed the Atlantic rather more successfully than its floating casino crossed the Hudson, with the laugh-a-minute rate high and its characterisation and warmth all shipshape and Bristol-fashion. A full run beckons I hope - not least because it'll be great to laugh at Americans for the right reasons once again.

The plot? The boss of the Barracuda Casino has skimped on his safety requirements and when the beat of 70s disco classics gets too much for the (hitherto unknown) faultlines that run under New York, an earthquake ensues that turns the boat, and its occupants' lives, upside-down. At times, it gets a bit predictable, but that's a minor quibble.

Like the lifeboats, the plot isn't really doing the work in this show. That's done by a perfectly judged set of characters whom we've all seen before plenty of times, but whom we welcome back with open arms. The cheapskate conman owner (someone should have told him, "You're gonna need a bigger boat"); the nun with a guitar and a gambling habit; the lovable kids; the nightclub singer; the reunited lovers; the professor; the woman with a terminal illness; the - well, I could go on.

Between the laughs, there's top drawer vocal work as lots of familiar tunes get an airing, some hilariously misplaced (natch, "I Will Survive" for example). How the all the rights were cleared, I don't know, but look forward to "Hot Stuff", "Torn Between Two Lovers", "Never Can Say Goodbye" and "Daybreak" as you've never heard them before - and lots and lots more too.

The cast, even in this semi-staged, barely rehearsed gala event were splendid. Sally Ann Triplett excels as the Tourettish Shirley forming a lovely old-timers 35 years and counting romance with Paul Grunert's Maury. Glamourpuss Alice Fern and hunky Oliver Tompsett are just as good as the young lovers reunited (and it feels so good...) with Sandra Marvin boldly belting as Levora, the diva on the slide and Tony nominee Jennifer Simard superb as the nun on the run from the lure of the slots. All but stealing the show, with fine vocals and the comic timing of a vaudeville veteran, Bradley Riches is fantastic as teen twins Ben and Lisa, a wonderful turn that promises much for the future.

Seth Rudetsky says that he developed the show with Jack Plotnick and Drew Geraci to be able to work with friends on Broadway: well, he found a few hundred more in the West End and might find a few thousand more if the show comes to London. And surely, it must.

Disaster! was semi-staged as a benefit for TheatreMAD who support men and women with HIV/AIDS in the UK and Africa.

Photo Jamie Scott-Smith

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