Robert Tanitch reviews Bugsy Malone at Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, London W6.
The Lyric Theatre building in Hammersmith is transformed completely, following a £20 million redevelopment.
You will be pleased to learn that the beautiful Victorian auditorium, built in 1895 by Thomas Matcham, Britain’s foremost theatre architect, remains intact.
The opening production, which is directed by the artistic director, Sean Holmes, and aimed at family audiences, is a thoroughly enjoyable revival of the stage version of Alan Parker’s 1976 film musical.
The show is a cute and totally innocent spoof of a typical Warner Bros Prohibition gangster movie of the 1930’s, the sort of movie in which you would expect to find James Cagney, Edward G Robinson and Humphrey Bogart
Parker’s originality was to cast all the roles with children. The pleasure was and still is double-fold: watching kids behaving like gangsters and watching gangsters behaving like kids. The hoods carry machine-guns but they don’t fire bullets. They fire splurge (whipped cream) and things, as you might guess, can get pretty messy.
One of the best visual gags is that bosses are tiny and their hoodlum gangs tower above them.
The songs are by Paul Williams. The witty choreography is by Drew McOnie. The finale is particularly exhilarating.
There are three different casts. In the cast I saw Bugsy Malone and Blousey Brown were played by Sasha Gray and Zoe Brough. The rival gang leaders were played by Oliver Emery and Jenson Steele. Asanda Jezile was the femme fatale. Hammed Animashaun was the dumb boxer.
Ainsley Hall Ricketts stood out in the ensemble. I was also much amused by tiny Emily Beacock, who has the show-stopping “Lena’s Number” which she sings and dances with two chorus boys twice her size – it’s absolutely hilarious.
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