Theatre
The Glenn Miller Story
King’s Theatre, Glasgow
Alison Kerr
four stars
It wasn’t quite as intriguing as the question of what happened to Glenn Miller’s plane as it flew over the Channel in 1944, but before curtain-up on Tuesday night there was a fair bit of speculation about the mystery surrounding just how 78-year-old song and dance star Tommy Steele was going to be the lead in a musical about a legendary composer/bandleader who didn’t sing or dance and who only made it to the age of 40. Would Steele be playing Miller? Or a narrator? Both ideas seemed to be dismissed by the publicity – but in fact, Steele did both.
Despite the anomalies, it worked – and then some. In fact, The Glenn Miller Story was hugely entertaining: Steele is still a showbiz force to be reckoned with, and, apart from one Woody Allen-esque moment, the age thing didn’t really get in the way.
The overall feeling was of an old-fashioned Hollywood musical biopic – grossly oversimplified, and all about the music. During a sequence in which a jobless Miller goes knocking on doors in Manhattan, the great Broadway Rhythm Ballet from Singing in the Rain was cleverly evoked.
And as for the question of how to make a musical about a composer whose hits were mostly instrumental? Well, the first half featured a string of cleverly chosen songs from the era (which allowed Steele to use his singing chops), the dancing was mostly done by a dynamic young troupe, and the Miller hits were played by a terrific band – though we could really have done with hearing more of the favourites.
Still, the next opportunity to hear this wonderful music comes along very soon when another Tommy, Smith not Steele, leads the SNJO in a Miller programme.
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