Get to know the glamorous history of musical 'High Society'

Ahead of the show's Barbican revival, read about the original version with Katharine Hepburn and movie musical starring Grace Kelly.

Summary

• High Society is coming to the Barbican
• The musical was originally a stage play called The Philadelphia Story
• It then became a movie starring Katharine Hepburn
• Musical version High Society originally starred Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra

Grab your swankiest tux or glitziest gown: you’re invited to the best party of the season. Cole Porter’s fabulous musical High Society is coming to London’s Barbican this summer, and it promises to be a feast of wit, romance, dancing, and jazz-hot tunes.

Helen George (Call the Midwife, The King and I) and Felicity Kendal (The Good Life, Anything Goes) lead the cast of this must-see revival, playing, respectively, socialite Tracy Lord, who is on the eve of her wedding, and Tracy’s exasperated mother.

Ahead of planning your trip to High Society, get to know more about the rich history of this beloved show, including its origins in The Philadelphia Story, the star-studded Hollywood movie, and previous stage productions on both sides of the pond.

Book High Society tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

The Philadelphia Story came first

High Society is based on the screwball comedy The Philadelphia Story, which began on Broadway in 1939. Philip Barry was inspired to write his play by his friend, the real-life Philadelphia socialite Helen Hope Montgomery Scott, and he wrote the central role of Tracy Lord for Katharine Hepburn. She loved the material so much that she waived her salary in return for receiving a percentage of the play’s profits.

The story sees Tracy preparing to marry the wealthy, middle-class George Kittredge, but the lavish event is interrupted first by her upper-crust yacht designer ex-husband C. K. Dexter Haven, who is still in love with her, and then by a brewing scandal. Spy magazine blackmails Tracy into having a reporter, Mike Connor, and photographer, Liz Imbrie, cover her wedding, otherwise they will publish an article exposing her father’s infidelity.

An increasingly frustrated and unsure Tracy finds herself wavering between George, Dexter and Mike, and, in the process, learning to be a little more forgiving of the weaknesses of others. The part of a headstrong, spirited woman from a well-to-do family was a perfect match for Hepburn, who duly made a brilliant success of it.

At the time, Hepburn was known as “box office poison” following a string of movie flops, but the 1940 film version of The Philadelphia Story, which also starred Cary Grant and James Stewart, was a box office hit and hugely well received by critics. It was nominated for six Oscars and won two: for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actor for Stewart.

High Society is born

The delightful story, packed with romance, hijinks and parties, was a natural fit for a musical, and in 1956 it was adapted into movie High Society. The plot remained more or less the same, except that Dexter became a singer-composer organising a jazz festival, creating an excuse for extra musical moments.

Grace Kelly succeeded Hepburn as Tracy, along with Bing Crosby as Dexter and Frank Sinatra as Mike, and Cole Porter provided a host of wonderful songs, including “True Love”, “You’re Sensational”, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”, “I Love You, Samantha”, “Now You Has Jazz”, and “Well, Did You Evah!”. The film also featured Louis Armstrong and his incredible band playing performers at Dexter’s jazz festival. Like its predecessor, High Society was a box office hit, and was also nominated for two Academy Awards.

From screen to stage

High Society came full circle by returning to Broadway, where The Philadelphia Story began, when it was adapted for the stage in 1998. It premiered at the St James Theatre, starring Melissa Errico as Tracy, Daniel McDonald as Dexter, Stephen Bogardus as Mike, and, making her Broadway debut, a then-12-year-old Anna Kendrick, playing Tracy’s precocious younger sister Dinah.

The Broadway production received two Tony Award nominations: for Kendrick as Best Featured Actress in a Musical, and for John McMartin, who played Tracy’s roguish Uncle Willie, as Best Featured Actor.

The stage version features a new book by Arthur Kopit and incorporates additional Porter songs, including “Ridin’ High”, “I Love Paris”, “Let’s Misbehave”, “Just One of Those Things”, “She’s Got That Thing”, “Say It With Gin”, and “It’s All Right With Me”.

High Society comes to London

London had previously seen a different stage version of High Society with a book by Richard Eyre: that production ran at the Victoria Palace Theatre in 1987, also directed by Eyre and starring Natasha Richardson, Trevor Eve, and Stephen Rea.

In 2003 the new Broadway version crossed the pond, playing at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre following a tour, and then transferring to the Shaftesbury Theatre in the West End in 2005. The cast was led by Katherine Kingsley, Graham Bickley, Ria Jones, Paul Robinson, and, as Tracy’s mother, Jerry Hall.

High Society was revived to great acclaim at London’s Old Vic in 2015, directed by Maria Friedman, and starring Kate Fleetwood, Rupert Young, Jamie Parker, Barbara Flynn, Annabel Scholey, Jeff Rawle, and Ellie Bamber. This production played in the round, featuring deliriously joyous choreography by Nathan M. Wright, including tap-dancing atop pianos.

High Society at the Barbican

A decade on, we are well overdue a glorious return to this irresistible world. Happily the Barbican is obliging with a fresh revival directed by Rachel Kavanaugh (Half a Sixpence, The Great British Bake Off Musical) and choreographed by Anthony Van Laast (Sister Act, Mamma Mia!).

The production stars Call the Midwife favourite Helen George, who previously starred in another classic musical, The King and I, at the Dominion Theatre. Felicity Kendal of The Good Life fame returns to the world of Cole Porter after putting in a hilarious turn in Anything Goes, also at the Barbican. Get ready for the most swellegant, elegant party of the summer!

Book High Society tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

*Main photo credit: Helen George in High Society (Photo courtesy of the production). Inset: The Philadelphia Story, Grace Kelly and Bing Crosby in High Society, Louis Armstrong in High Society, High Society at the Old Vic (Photos courtesy of the movies, photo by Alastair Muir)