HIGH SOCIETY – Barbican Theatre to 11th July

Review: PJH 4th July 2026

During recent summers, the Barbican Theatre has established itself as the place to enjoy a classic musical, and especially those written by Cole Porter. So, Anything Goes in 2021 and Kiss Me, Kate in 2024 are followed this year by High Society. Unlike its predecessors, High Society was written not for the stage but for the Hollywood screen. It is based on the 1940 film comedy The Philadelphia Story, which was itself based on the 1939 play of the same name by Philip Barry. When Cole Porter transformed it into a musical in 1956, it starred Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby, and Frank Sinatra. No wonder that it took 30 years for High Society to reach the stage, and when it did it was at the Haymarket Theatre in Leicester, where it opened in November 1986 in an adaptation and production by Richard Eyre, which stuck with the songs from the film and moved to the Victoria Palace Theatre where it ran for 420 performances.

However, the version that really established itself as the basis for future productions is the US interpretation with a book by Arthur Kopit and premiered in San Francisco in 1997 before transferring to Broadway in 1998. This used six of the nine songs from the film and then supplemented them with others from the Cole Porter songbook. In this production at the Barbican, director Rachel Kavanaugh has adapted Kopit’s version integrating a different selection of Porter’s hits, including “You Do Something to Me”, “Be a Clown”, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, and, in the finale, “Let’s Do It”.

Central to the action of High Society is Tracy Lord (played by Helen George), a Long Island socialite, who, having divorced the wealthy yacht designer Dexter Haven (Julian Ovenden), is now to marry her father’s accountant George Kitteridge (David Seadon-Young). Her choice is disparaged by her younger sister Dinah (Naomi Pacquette), though tolerated by her mother Margaret (Felicity Kendal). George’s inadequacies are thrown into relief by Dexter, who turns up at the Lord mansion after a long absence, during which he has been sailing his yacht True Love (a symbol of his lasting affection for Tracy). Dexter tells the family that the editor of Spy magazine had intended to expose the infidelities of Tracy’s father, and that he had managed to stop this only by agreeing to get a reporter and photographer invited to the wedding as friends of the Lords’ deceased cousin Junius, so that they could surreptitiously cover it. Enter Mike Connor (Freddie Fox) and Liz Imbrie (Carly Mercedes Dyer), who do not immediately fit comfortably into the sumptuous surroundings of their privileged hosts.

Tom Rogers’ impressively flexible set – strikingly lit by Howard Hudson – represents various neo-classical buildings on the Lord estate. Jon Morrell’s costume designs reflect the 1950s and enhance the inventive choreography of Anthony Van Laast.

As the lovers at the heart of the action, George and Ovenden play Tracy and Dexter as experienced, world-weary, and susceptible to sparring, if lacking in warmth and depth. However, Freddie Fox is immensely talented and he extends his range with assurance in his first significant role in a musical.

Equally delightful and multi-dimensional, Carly Mercedes Dyer who provides one of the most touching moments of the production when, overcoming the somewhat cruel over miking, she tenderly sings “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”. However, there is too little sense of romance between the central parties, and a lack of full-bodied characters as a whole. You barely get a sense of who these people are, what and who they desire. There is just not the necessary conflict in this wonky love story to give it any stakes. Unlike the film, this and previous stage productions lack any sense of glancing askance at these ridiculous rich folk. There is an element of caution into what is essentially feel-good, escapist entertainment that rests on the strength of Porter’s score, which is expertly driven by musical director Stephen Ridley.

The book by Arthur Kopit remains rather wooden. Directed by Rachel Kavanaugh, the show seems so preoccupied with dazzling us musically and visually that it forgets the importance of story, character and emotion. And, despite an extended version of Let’s Misbehave, it seems too tame, nostalgic and well behaved. There is plenty of theatrical fizz but there is no genuine, joyful giddiness.