Billionaire Boy is a musical adaptation of the novel by bestselling children’s author David Walliams. The story is about a twelve year old boy, Joe Spud who lives with his father, Len. Len Spud has made his billions following a revolutionary invention of a new type of toilet paper which is moist on one side and dry on the other. As with any good story the protagonist, Joe Spud wants to escape from his world. He has no interest in all the money and fortune which comes from his father’s fame and longs to just be a boy, in an ordinary school, with ordinary friends.
Walliams has rightly earned comparisons with Roald Dahl because, not only does he write with real compassion for his characters, he also populates his hilarious fictional world with lively, comedy-caricatures in supporting roles. He is a firm family favourite and many of his stories have been adapted into films, which have become a much-cherished addition to the nation’s Christmas television fixture list. He continues to write new books that fly off the shelves the minute they are released. It is no wonder that so many people draw comparisons between his and Dahl’s work, so when you hear that a Walliams novel has been adapted into a musical, the comparison continues.
This touring production was shown in the Lowry’s largest theatre space, the Lyric theatre and although it was busy, it wasn’t a sell-out. The design aspects of the show were fantastic: from a magnificent set, costumes and props by Gabriella Slade and team, it really was a spectacle to behold and looked like a big budget production. However, the technical aspects of the production really brought the production quality down. Being the opening night of the tour, this felt under-rehearsed for the space and the sound design was far too quiet in the first half and didn’t really lift to an acceptable level until the final song of act one. This had a huge impact on the atmosphere of the whole auditorium, which was a real shame. The disappointment of technical elements didn’t end there with the microphones often missing the start of sentences and spotlights not moving in time with the actors. Not that either of these impacted on the younger members of the audience who remained captivated by a wonderful story being told by fabulous actors.
The cast was made up of just ten extremely multi-skilled performers, many of whom transitioned seamlessly from one role to another, throughout the show. Eleanor Kane’s physicality in the role of Lauren was brilliantly directed by Luke Sheppard and Avita Jay’s contrasting characterisation as Sapphire and Jay, actually gave me a shock at the end when she was revealed to play both roles! The cast was complemented by an equally talented bunch of musicians who were intrinsic to the action on stage, although again let down by their sound volume.
The lead role of Joe Spud was portrayed by the talented Ryan Heenan with a lovely sense of fun whilst maintaining pathos for the boy who felt so betrayed by his notoriety. His vocals were wonderful in his solo songs and he had a wonderful rapport with the entire cast. Lem Knight’s lively portrayal of Joe’s best friend Bob was brilliantly comedic and created a heart-warming sense of friendship in an over-sized youth. Together, their relationship was my favourite aspect of this production.
One can’t help but draw comparisons between a certain musical adaptation of a Roald Dahl classic and sadly, Billionaire Boy did not live up to its main competitor leaving me underwhelmed by this production. It had a fantastic story, a decent budget and some talented casting, however it just didn’t give me that lift I feel when I watch a musical. The songs were (a word which I wince at using) ‘nice’ and made you tap your feet but there was no sense of wanting to stand up and dance as you feel with other musicals. Nor were there any motifs or melodies that stayed with you as you exited the auditorium. Maybe I’m a miserable forty-something as this was a children’s story, made for children and judging by their faces in the audience, they seemed to really engage in it. Billionaire Boy does make for a good family show but there was just something lacking and flat about the performance I watched, perhaps it would have been a completely different experience in a smaller theatre with better sound and light. Who knows?!.
Reviewer - Johanna Hassouna-Smith
on - 14/2/19
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