Little Miss Sunshine, The Musical, is currently being performed at The Playhouse in Liverpool, which is situated in the heart of the city. The playhouse is a lovely small theatre, but very imitate and elegant in it’s surroundings.
Little Miss Sunshine, The Musical was performed by arrangement with Music Theatre International. Mehmet Ergen directed Little Miss Sunshine, whilst Arlene McNaught was the Musical Director. They have both done an incredible job bringing the musical to life on the stage. Their dedication and hard work were clearly observed throughout the show. Additionally, they added their own touches.
Based on the Oscar-winning film, which was written by Michael Arndt. Little Miss Sunshine is a new musical comedy from Tony Award winners, James Lapine (Into The Woods, Sunday In The Park With George) and William Finn (Falsettos, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee). Whilst Lapine wrote the book, Finn was responsible for the music and lyrics. With the overwhelming success as a film, the musical has since been adapted for the stage. The stage version stayed very true to the film with a few alterations.
The European premiere of Little Miss Sunshine, The Musical starred Coronation Street and Holby City favourite, Mark Moraghan, two-time Olivier-award nominee, Paul Keating (Little Shop of Horrors and The Full Monty), Lucy O’Byrne (Elvira, Les Miserables and The Sound of Music), Ian Carlyle (The Lion King and We Will Rock You) and Gabriel Vick (Avenue Q and Les Miserables), who all led the cast in the show.
The leading cast of characters were supported by a great ensemble including Joshau Rose / Kirby (Matthew McDonald), Larry / Buddy (Ian Carlyle) and Linda / Miss California (Imelda Warren-Green). who, for me, stole the show in her small roles with her funny one-liners and added some comedy into her performance. Alicia Belgrade, Elena Christie and Sacrlet Roache played the roles of Miss Long Beach, Miss Costa Mesa and Miss San Pedro respectively. They also played the roles of the mean girls in the show too.
Lily Mae Denman played the role of Olive in tonight’s performance of Little Miss Sunshine. However, the role of Olive is also played by Evie Gibson and Sophie Hartley-Booth on alternative nights. I thought Denman added a great sense of naivety and warmth to the role and entertained the audience instantly, when she was on stage. She was a real ray of sunshine that really lit the stage, with her smile and energised performance.
Little Miss Sunshine, The Musical centred around young Olive, (Lily Mae Denman), who is the daughter of Richard (Gabriel Vick) and Sheryl Hoover (Lucy O’Byrne), who had aspirations of being a beauty queen, who was coached by her grandpa, Edwin (Mark Moraghan). Young Olive lives with her parents and brother Dwayne (Sev Keoshgerian) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her grandpa, Edwin has recently moved into the Hoover household after being evicted from his nursing-home, due to drug use. Additionally, Olive’s gay uncle, Frank, has temporarily moved into the house too as he attempted suicide.
Sheryl is an overworked mother of two, trying her absolute best to keep her family together. Her husband, Richard, Type A personality, who was striving to build a career as a Motivational Speaker and Life Coach. Dwayne has recently took a vow of silence, until he accomplishes his dream of becoming a test pilot. All the family members have their own issues and problems, which they are dealing with individually.
The Hoover family have more than a few troubles, but young Olive has set her heart on winning the ‘Little Miss Sunshine beauty contest.’ When an invitation to compete comes out of the blue, the Hoovers must all pile into their rickety yellow camper van. Due to their financial situation, they all decide to go on the 800 mile road trip from New Mexico to California in their camper van.
Family tensions play out on the highway and at stops along the way, amidst the Volkswagen van’s mechanical problems. Their van breaks down early on in their journey, but they manage to get it going again. Throughout the road trip, the Hoover family experience personal setbacks and discover their need for each other. The family attempt to overcome their issues and problems during the road trip journey.
The running theme of Little Miss Sunshine was the importance of family and how they can help each other with their problems. They all generally love and have a great warmth for each other, which was clearly shown on stage with their characters. There were various issues such as suicide and depression were touched upon during the show.
David Woodhead designed the set and the costumes for the characters. The set was minimal, with very little props. However, it was the narrative and characters, who moved the story along nicely. I thought the makeshift camper van looked good on stage. Additionally, all the costumes were good, particularly the beauty pageant’s outfits, which were extremely elegant.
Anthony Whiteman did a good job with choreography, with the various dance moves for the musical numbers in the show. The lighting designer, Richard Williamson also did a good job lighting the set. There was a great contrast with the lighting reflecting the moods of the scenes. Generally, most of the scenes were lit incredibly well, which add a vibrant touch to the musical.
The band consisted of Natalie Hancock on cello, Carys Evans on horn, Matt Hobson on percussion, Katie Punter on reeds, Reuben Greeph and Arlene McNaught on keys. Greeph was the musical director, who assisted McNaught. The band did a fantastic job playing all their instruments to the songs. The score for Little Miss Sunshine was written by the Denver band, Devotchka and the composer, Mychael Danna. Much of the songs were pre-existing songs such as How It Ends, which became The Winner Is. There were plenty of songs performed in the show such as You Love Me and La Llorona. The vocals sung by the cast were really good.
Little Miss Sunshine was an uplifting, modern classic, which celebrated the quirks of everyday family life, the potholes in every road along the way and the power of overcoming their differences and problems. It’s a really entertaining family show , with a solid narrative and various songs performed by a great cast of actors. The show had a great deal of warmth concerning all the characters and thisis one road trip you want to take.
Reviewer - Mark Cooper
on - 24/9/19
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