I needed a perfect pick-me-up tonic this week and I certainly received it going to watch Regal Entertainments’ brand-new comedy musical ‘Achy Breaky Bride’ written by Emma Culshaw and David Paul at St. Helens Theatre Royal. Brought to us by the same producers of The Salon and Rita, Sue and Bob Too! this is a glorious, and beautifully bonkers musical delight. Here we are greeted with Dream Dresses, St. Helens’ boutique Bridal shop, and run by a boy named Sue, played by West End and Blood Brothers star Daniel Taylor and his sister Jolene played by Radio City’s Leanne Campbell. The chemistry between these on-stage brother and sister is a real treat to witness as we see them work tirelessly to help blushing brides-to-be prepare for their big days!
The big question is not “Will you marry me” from the grooms-to-be, but more will the brides-to-be make it down the isle with no dramas?! Will they indeed stand by their men, proclaiming I Will Always Love You? This new comedy includes many classic country hits such as Crazy, Rhinestone Cowboy, Jolene, Rose Garden and of course Achy Breaky Heart!
The stalls were full and there was already a fun pre-show atmosphere in the air at this St. Helens Theatre. Perhaps we all had an inkling of the wacky and wonderous ride we were about to be taken on. What we were greeted with was the most jazzy and glitzy set and with more sparkles than I have ever seen in any play to date. I’m a sparkly girl so this pleased me greatly, where did they get those dazzling sequinned cushions from, I wondered! Regal Entertainments Ltd did I fine job with the set and scenery, it really ‘set’ the scene for what was about to come.
We are met with Faye played by the very watchable Olivia Sloyan, who takes a big role in the day to day running of Dream Dresses with all its chaotic and crazy adventures. Sloyan takes on this role with great ease and in my opinion perfectly cast, she makes a friendly and chatty helper to her brides-to-be and has a little added cheekiness to her personality that makes you warm to her greatly. You also get to see another dimension to her personality in further scenes which adds a little more depth to her role. Sloyan’s vocal talent also shone through during the musical numbers. Quite soon into the show one realises one may have entered a parallel universe and I mean that in a good way, you can only sit back and enjoy the ride. On that ride comes the utterly hilarious Chrissy Rock who plays a multitude of roles and it is hard to pick out a favourite as each one brought with it an utter comedic delight! In one scene I did have to shake my head a few times and blink repeatedly just to make sure I wasn’t actually imaging what I was seeing, she was hysterical.
Jolene played by Campbell and along with her brother Sue is head of the bridal store and gives a very strong performance as a workaholic feisty manager who is no push over. Perhaps this new strength comes from an earlier heartbreak which we soon find more about as the story unfolds. Campbell plays a fine and strong performance and takes the helm in dealing with the often-chaotic world of all things wedding related. Her brother Sue played by Taylor first appears as this willowy wonderful vision in hot pink that for sure would make the boys (and girls) wink. Taylor takes on this eccentric dramatic role like a duck to water, it was made for him. Normally an actor recoils if they are deemed a little hammy, but Taylor I believe decided to add in some extra hammy-ness to this role but in a perfectly gorgeous and brilliant way. His faints are Oscar-worthy alone! As an aside the ‘ham’ joke further on in the show may have got some of the shyer audience members blushing. On that note I would say Achy Breaky Bride is certainly for a more mature (and I mean that in an age sense only) audience as there are a few blue moments but the audience lapped it up.
Writers Culshaw and Paul are very accomplished at gag telling and their fun script really did bring many smiles to peoples faces. The direction from Sylvie Gatrill was handled with a jollity and with a real sense of fun. Talking of fun also in the cast line-up is one of the UK’s premier drag artist’s Divina De Campo who plays two roles. What a scream to witness one of the parts ‘Breathless’ and all that she brought to that stage and with a presence you just couldn’t miss. Breathless also got to wear one of the most dazzling dresses I have ever seen, and of that I am very jealous. One more cast member who really stood out for me was the tall, dark, slightly broody and very handsome Hank, an old love interest of Jolene’s and played by Joshua Ford. Ford is obviously very talented in many areas, one area certainly stood out for me, in fact I don’t think I’ll ever be able to erase that memory from my mind for a long time yet. Although in truth, I was egging him on from my theatre seat! An excellent acting performance from Ford who pitched the role perfectly and I think perhaps I developed a bit of a soft spot for his Hank role.
The rest of the cast, Jenna Sian O’Hara and Emma Vaudrey were all admirable and the team chemistry was on fire, the performers were simply enjoying their moment up there on the stage and had fun with the script. Achy Breaky Bride is a very entertaining watch with some great humour, a story that was easy to follow and included some great country singing that got the audience up on their feet singing along with the cast. Yes, occasionally I did feel like I had suddenly landed on the moon, that I had been transported to the Twilight Zone, but that’s what made it part of the magic. Sometimes life can be a bit stressful and you just need to go and witness and be part of some good old-fashioned fun and laughter and this is where comedy musical Achy Breaky Bride excels and has in bucket loads!
Achy Breaky Bride at St Helens Theatre Royal until Saturday 8 June
Reviewer - Mary Fogg
on - 5/6/19
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