Written in the 1970s as a film-for-television musical for a cast made up entirely of juveniles (including a young Jodie Foster as Tallulah!) this spoof lampooning of the !920s Chicago gangster era has become a firm favourite for youth theatres ever since.
I have seen various incarnations of this musical over the years, and some have most definitely worked better than others. I have seen it performed with an all adult cast (that was a mistake!), a mixed age cast (that was interesting!) and of course with an all juvenile cast. However, this afternoon's performance was given by overall the youngest cast I have thus far seen! I have ben reliably informed that this cast were aged from 7 - 13 years, and they al coped adroitly with such a difficult piece. Not only were they tasked with their own roles (many of them playing multiple roles throughout!), but they were also in charge of managing backstage too - bringing on the small set items when required, doing their own costume changes, and learning about the running of a backstage management team as they went along. In fact, for these youngsters, it was a huge learning curve for them, and a platform from which to grow and learn - learn by doing - the right way!
The musical whizzes along at quite a pace and covers many different locations in sometimes extremely short scenes, and so a very sensible composite set was utilised for this. Totally in period, it looked very good and worked superbly. Costuming was also on the same high standard, creating the correct milieu with ease. Sound levels were optimal, and lighting worked well throughout.
The young cast also understood very clearly that in order to maximise the comedy from this show, they had to play their characters 'straight'. The more they believed in their own caricatures, the more the audience lapped it up! They even managed credible American gangster accents too! This was a true ensemble production, each with a solid understanding of their individual characters and how they fit into the whole, whilst telling the story simply and eloquently.
My one nit-pick! (sorry, but it was quite a biggie) - and that is that the splurge guns were not as effective as they could have been. We wanted mess, we wanted creamy froth al over the stage and the cast, and we were given a dribble of toothpaste most of the time. Even in the finale sequence, the foam could have been more 'foamy!'.
The cast was headed by the cheeky chappie Klay Turner as Bugsy. A very personable presence on stage and I feel sure he will go far if he continues his training. Working with him and around h8im were the good, the bad, and the very bad of Chicago's seedy side. Emily Painter as a plaintive and sincere Blousey Brown, Amelia Zatorska as a harassed Fat Sam, Imogen Holt as Fat Sam's nemesis, Dandy Dan, Hattie Healey as the gold-digging tenacious Tallulah etc etc. However, my two favourite moments of this afternoon's show came from perhaps more surprising quarters. Miley Kennedy's rendition of 'Tomorrow' was plaintive and mellow, whilst Lexie Mullen's characterisation of Cagey Joe was just hilarious! The cast completed with Sophie Allan, Hania Szaszkiewicz, Thomas Hayes-Hulme, Kasey Shawcross, Weronika Szaszkiewicz, Melody Taylor, Anabella Hoxhaj, and Arabella Dasilva.
Directed by Prab Singh, with Musical Direction by Beth Singh, this was a very sensibly treated and professionally produced piece of children's theatre.
Reviewer - Alastair Zyggu
on - 7.2.26
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