


Last weekend, I was fortunate to see the musical Crazy for You on London’s West End. It’s based on a book by Ken Ludwig and borrows songs by Ira and George Gershwin, mostly (though not exclusively) from their 1930 musical Girl Crazy. The musical is a modern adaptation masquerading as a classic, and it works wonderfully.
It tells the story of Bobby Child, a theatre enthusiast from New York working in his family’s bank who is sent to Deadrock, Nevada, to foreclose on a theatre’s mortgage. There, Bobby falls in love with the theatre owner’s daughter, Polly, and tries to save the theatre and win her over by putting on a show.
My favorite number was “I Can’t Be Bothered Now.” This version from the 1992 Broadway production of Crazy for You is quite similar to the one I saw:
And here is the original from a movie named A Damsel in Distress (1937), starring Fred Astaire.