CityLife

When Harry Met Sally

When Harry Met Sally
Opera House
May 10, 2010

Can men and women ever be just friends? That was the question everyone was talking about when When Harry Met Sally opened at the cinema.

Yes. No. Maybe? Whatever your answer, 21 years later – yes, it really has been that long - it’s still a conversation starter.

That is the basic premise of the story and this stage version, adapted by Marcy Kahan, is true to the original in that the all main scenes are recognisable.

Harry first meets Sally when he turns up to decorate her apartment. She thinks he’s obnoxious (coming onto her when he’s seeing one of her friends). He thinks she’s uptight (her door has a lock, two bolts and a chain – well, it is New York).

He says they can’t be friends, a few years later they are, then, they’re not. It’s the perfect will they, won’t they, romantic comedy.

Here soap favourites, Rupert Hill (Coronation Street’s Jamie Baldwin) and Sarah Jayne Dunn (Mandy from Hollyoaks) take the main roles, originally played by Hollywood's Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan.

It’s a tough act to follow but both actors rise to it well, bringing the freshness of live performance to some of cinema’s favourite and most memorable lines.

The gentle humour flows easily throughout with good on-stage chemistry between the pair. Hill is both charming and comic as the sex-obsessed Harry while Dunn gets the spontaneous applause she deserves with the now iconic, ‘I’ll have whatever she’s having,’ scene in the diner.

Luke Rutherford, Kosha Engler, Callum McArdle and Annabelle Brown make up the cast.

Tim McQuillen-Wright’s minimalist design sees the action played out against a Manhattan backdrop on a simple white set which adapts readily from apartment to diner, park to rooftop.

Scenes are punctuated with tales of how old couples met, with a light jazz soundtrack from Ben and Jamie Cullum, including the song, It Had To Be You, sung in the film by Harry Connick Jr.

As a whole it adapts well to the stage. Ok, so it’s not the film, but there is a whole new generation coming to it, for which the age old arguments still ring true and the sparkling dialogue, when coupled with strong lead performances, make for a thoroughly entertaining evening.

When Harry Met Sally is at The Opera House until May 15, 2010.

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