Review: GET DOWN TONIGHT at The Charing Cross Theatre

Date: 30th September 2025

Stars: 2

Get Down Tonight promises a party. KC and the Sunshine Band on stage, disco ball glitter, a chance to forget the grey outside Charing Cross for 90 minutes. The trouble is, the glitter wears thin quickly, and what you’re left with is a show that feels more like a tribute night than a musical with any real dramatic bite.

The script is paper-thin, little more than a string of excuses to reach the next hit. Characters wander on, say a few lines, and vanish again, as if even they know they’re just there to fill time before the music kicks back in. The songs themselves are the reason to come — they’re classics, and you can’t really kill that groove — but the delivery doesn’t always catch fire. Some numbers land, others limp, and you find yourself wishing the cast were allowed to let rip instead of polishing every move to a dull shine.

There are positives. Ross Harmon has the charm to hold your attention, even when the material doesn’t. Lisa Stevens’s choreography keeps things tight, and the costumes pop with the right 70s sparkle. Lighting changes keep the stage alive, and the sound design gives you the thump of bass you expect from disco. But the staging never quite escapes feeling small, as if the music wants to burst out of the room and the show keeps tugging it back.

By the end, you’ve tapped your foot a few times, maybe even smiled when the hits rolled out, but it’s not enough. A musical about KC and the Sunshine Band should send you home buzzing, and this one leaves you checking the time.

Get Down Tonight plays at the Charing Cross Theatre until 15th November: https://charingcrosstheatre.co.uk/theatre/get-down-tonight