Review: Savoy! Everybody’s Doing It, Fringe 2024

Well, I don’t want to say, “What was that?” because, first, I enjoyed “Savoy! Everybody’s Doing It,” and second, it’s obviously a musical with a clever mashup of styles.

And yet… what’s the message? Is this really a romantic story about how insecure romance is? Is this a musical that exposes modern marriage as inherently dishonest because you’ll surely be attracted to someone else and may have to choose between being faithful to your partner or faithful to your own needs?

I guess “Savoy!” might be an excellent show to bring your polycule to. 

Tone

Romantic and anti-romantic. Contemporary and nostalgic at the same time.

I’m not flip-flopping! “Savoy” is all these things. It’s simple if you view the performance as energy, singing and dancing with a bit of romantic tension in the plot. The problem is that it’s different from that.

There are six performers: the four main characters, our narrator, and the keyboard player. Our narrator might be a bit magical, able to weave herself in and out of reality, replay choices until people pick the right ones, and therefore count. The keyboard player gets involved, too.

Fourth wall? That’s kinda not there either. There’s audience engagement in that we get engaged. I was, briefly, a movie starlet, I think, and I had lost my purse. The young chap next to me at a sexy singer on his lap for a serenade. I’m not sure what he made of it, but I think he was there with his parents, who loved it.

I enjoyed the singing, but thinking about the message “Savoy! Everybody’s Doing It” is what I’ll take from the show and reflect on for weeks. 

What to expect

Glamorous songs, costume changes, high kicks and operettas.

Don’t expect to hide in the audience. The room is set up like a lounge, and you might well be able to relax in comfortable chairs around a table (ideal for a pint – which you can buy at the venue). Not only might you get sung  at there might be scenes in which the performers escape from the stage, leap down beside you and whirl around.

You might be one of the character’s ex-wives.

There’s emotion on display and characters in awkward situations. I don’t know whether “Savoy!” is a date night musical, but I’d certainly want to know how my partner/potential partner reacts.

You can expect to be interested and entertained. There is thought-provoking material here, as well as sexy song and dance routines.

I like the venue but there are a few acts on. There is a bit of noise leakage. One of the performers from “Savoy!” met us as we queued on the stairs (I hate queuing on stairs), and he greeted us. It was delightful but awkward as I stood beside a sign begging us to be quiet as a show was on just through a nearby door. That same show later boomed a dance track into our scene, though, so honours are even. This, I fear, is the way of the Fringe. You must roll with it.

Overall

I wish more Fringe shows had an audience seating arrangement like “Savoy! Everybody’s Doing It”.

That’s not the kindest thing I can say about the act, but it was the first thing I thought about as I walked in.

“Savoy!” is musically delightful and well-written and skirts the line between entertainingly terrifying with audience engagement and not needing to engage the audience at all.

The song and dance routines are great. I feel, though, that I’m not quite at the “isn’t it obvious” conclusion about marriage or relationships that I suspect the writer wants me to be at. Mind you, I’m awful at anything romance/relationship at all, and I suspect “Savoy!” tackles those two in expert mode.