Fifty years after the release of the hit that gives this jukebox musical its name, KC and the Sunshine Band are on tour in North America, such is the undimmed love for their radiant disco-funk. Most of the audience getting down this afternoon – it’s one of the show’s four weekly matinees – probably know these songs from first time round. The 12in records used to frame the stage, their centre labels glowing in candy colours, are a testament to the discography at director-choreographer Lisa Stevens’ disposal.
Twenty numbers arranged by Mark Crossland are spread across an 80-minute production which doesn’t give much space for character development. So it is maddening to discover that this is also another one of those shows in which the question of how to tell the story becomes an ongoing discussion for the characters on stage rather than a matter for the writers’ room. The band’s leader Harry Wayne Casey (“KC”), played by Ross Harmon, has barely been introduced before his pal Dee (Paige Fenlon) is schooling him on 11 o’clock numbers and musical-theatre trends.
