Here You Come Again - Review

Riverside Studios, London

****

By Bruce Vilanch, Gabriel Barre and Tricia Paoluccio

Additional material by Jonathan Harvey

Directed by Gabriel Barre

Steven Webb and Tricia Paoluccio

Hitting the sweetest of sweet spots, Here You Come Again is a juke-box musical that does for Dolly Parton what Mamma Mia did for ABBA. Oozing with sincerity as much as it defies credibility, the show is built around the importance of recognising one’s self-worth, while staying heart-warmingly true to Parton’s glowing public persona.

Set during 2020’s lockdown, Steven Webb plays 40-yo gay Kevin, freshly dumped by his boyfriend and now returned to his parent’s home where for the purposes of social distancing they have isolated him in the attic den that was his bedroom as a teenager. Festooned in Dolly Parton merchandise, the attic is a tribute to the star that Kevin has never stopped adoring for decades.

In the depths of Kevin’s despair and with more than a hint of Mary Poppins, Dolly Parton herself bursts through a poster on his wall singing the title number and lifting the packed Riverside Studios onto a fluffy pink cloud of joy and exhilaration. The show's writing is clever throughout, but with the shrewd addition of Jonathan Harvey to the creative team, dramatic heft is added to the narrative.

Tricia Paoluccio (a co-creator of the show) plays Parton to a tee. Her personification of the queen of country music is nigh-on flawless with a voice that captures Parton’s unique timbre and a tone and cadence that is so spot-on that if you shut your eyes and listen it might just as well be Dolly herself here in Hammersmith.

Parton’s biggest hits (try saying that after a few drinks) are in the show. A wondrously corny storyline introduces Jolene (with superb red-haired accompaniment from Webb), while the interval is sandwiched between Love Is Like A Butterfly and 9 To 5. Islands In The Stream (with the audience all waving the torches on their phones) and I Will Always Love You are two of the second act’s highlights, as a handful of Dolly’s lesser known delights add to the evening’s songlist.

The story line is simple and neat and if the ending may be a tad twee (no spoilers here) at least it ensures the audience leave with the broadest of grins and the warmest of hearts. The finale of a singalong Dolly megamix (currently followed by a Christmas megamix too) is as cheering as a glass of brandy-laden mulled wine.

Above all, this show stands on the strengths of its two leads. Webb has the challenge of convincing us of the sentimentality and integrity of Kevin, which he does magnificently. Paoluccio of course has to become Dolly Parton and both of them produce a top-notch chemistry that is touching and believable. On press night Aidan Cutler and Charlotte Elisabeth Yorke stepped up to deliver a range of minor supporting roles, while the music was perfectly directed by Jordan Li-Smith’s four-piece band who were both on and off stage as the numbers demanded. Paul Wills' set design is simply effective and his glitzy costumes, magnificent. Lizzi Gee's choreography sees the actors perfectly drilled in some outstanding routines.

Here You Come Again will wrap your heart round its little finger. On tour after its month-long Riverside residency, this evening of pure entertainment deserves to end-up in the West End.

Runs until 18th January 2025, then tours

Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol - Review

Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

***

Music and lyrics by Dolly Parton

Book and adaptation David H Bell

Directed and choreographed by Alison Pollard

Corey Wickens and Robert Bathurst

The cast in Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol are all finely voiced. The show’s sound design however doesn’t match its actors’ talents and when they sing en masse, the blurred acoustics sadly muffle most of Dolly’s lyrics. Thankfully the tale’s a classic so filling in the gaps is not too much of a challenge.

Parton’s show acknowledges the Smoky Mountains’ history of the poverty of depressed 1930s America and also captures the snowy harshness of the Appalachian winters. But Tennessee was segregated until 1954 and looking at this show and its casting, this appears to be a troubling aspect of the state’s history that the producers have conveniently overlooked.

Robert Bathurst is convincingly curmudgeonly as Ebenezer Scrooge with Sarah O’Connor putting in a sweetly sung take on Three Candles. If only the song’s lyrics were as classy as her rendition. The best song of the night that closes Act One and is later reprised to see the audience off into the night is I’m Dreaming Of A Smoky Mountain Christmas, capturing Parton’s country genius at its finest. And credit too to Andrew Hilton’s six-piece band who are on fine form throughout.

Dolly may have whimsically hitched her wagon to a classic of the Christmas canon, but this show is just a little snowbound.

Runs until 8th January 2023

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan 

Nine to Five The Musical - Review

Savoy Theatre, London


*****


Music & lyrics by Dolly Parton
Book by Patricia Resnick
Directed by Jeff Calhoun

David Hasselhoff

As David Hasselhoff steps into the role of sexist misogynist boss Franklin Hart Jnr in Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5, the show is lifted to an even higher plane of brilliant musical theatre comedy. Hart is a 2-dimensional shallow monster, and with Hasselhoff stepping up (or down) to the role, the self-deprecation that sees a globally recognised TV star being humiliatingly hoisted around the stage clad only in bondage gear, is quite simply a treat. Hasselhoff has a decent voice too - he still retains legendary status in Germany as a singer - which only adds to the show's fun.  

The audience cheer ‘The Hoff’ on his first appearance - he could just as easily be being booed by the crowd for his character’s despicable antics and attitudes come the final bows - and it is this pantomime aspect that makes an already outstanding show, a perfect night out.

Any successful musical can only be as strong as its book and Patricia Resnick’s 1980s fable does a fine job of creating believable, and above all, relatable issues from her 2-D comic book heroines and villains. Coming from way before the #MeToo era, the sexual harassment and exploitation of the storyline may be played for laughs on stage, and the show’s ending maybe as fantastic as a fairytale, but the laughs are all at the expense of the bad guy(s). 

Caroline Sheen as key protagonist Violet Newstead remains flawless in her leading the company. Natalie McQueen’s Doralee Rhodes - the Dolly Parton tribute character - is equally strong, with Chelsea Halfpenny as Judy Bernly completing the talented trio. It is still Bonnie Langford's harridan Roz who stops and steals the show half way through act one. Langford's tango duet with Hasselhoff, Heart To Hart has the audience cheering to the rafters.

The show is a technical gem. Whip smart dancing, Andrew Hilton’s phenomenal band and ingenious lighting and projections all combine to create a world class night at the theatre.

Booking until 23rd May 2020

David Hasselhoff appears until 8th February 2020

Nine to Five The Musical - Review

Savoy Theatre, London


****


Music & lyrics by Dolly Parton
Book by Patricia Resnick
Directed by Jeff Calhoun

Natalie McQueen, Caroline Sheen , Amber Davies

Musical theatre comedy done well is a blissful way to spend an evening. So it is with Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5, currently playing to packed houses at the Savoy Theatre.

Set in 1980s corporate America the plot is an unbelievable humbug that sees three focused, driven women kidnap their boorish, mysogninyst boss with everything leading to a deliriously happy ending. But while the story may be a fictional fable, the show’s themes are sadly timeless - and to that end, while Parton my have set Patricia Resnick’s book to music nearly 40 years ago, the show’s themes of workplace inequality and sexual harassment are as true today as they ever were.

So what turns this potentially grim scenario into quite such a banging night at the theatre? Parton’s cracking songs, delivered by a perfect cast. Caroline Sheen leads the line, as Violet, an overlooked female executive. In a tough role that doesn’t offer much comical caricature potential, Sheen is magnificent. Beautifully voiced as ever, she drives the story’s narrative.

Dolly Parton is as famous for her physique as for her country & western singer/songwriter talents - and it falls to Natalie McQueen as Doralee to capture the legendary statuesque Parton persona. McQueen rises to the challenge fabulously, never better than in her poignant solo Backwoods Barbie.

Third in the lineup is Amber Davies’ Judy playing a young dumped bride finding her way in the workplace. Both Davies and McQueen capture the comic essentials of their characters with an impressive avoidance of cliche - top work from all three.

The supporting roles are equally flawless in their delivery of cracking comedy. Brian Conley is the women’s monstrous employer turning in an assured performance as a man with no redeeming features whatsoever other than an awesome stage presence and impeccable comic timing. Opposite Conley, Bonnie Langford plays Roz, his harridan henchperson.  Langford’s talent is breathtaking as she transitions from brusque, bunned busybody to basque-clad temtptress in her sensational solo piece Heart To Hart, with an elegant litheness that has to be seen to be believed.

And all credit to the show’s creatives. Jeff Calhoun and choreographer Lisa Stevens pack the piece with colour and movement, while Howard Hudson’s lighting and Nina Dunn’s video projections make the stage itself as entertaining as the perfomances. Under Andrew Hilton’s baton, the eight piece band are an equal delight.

9 to 5 is perfectly played, unpretentious fun and one of the funniest feel-good shows in town.

Booking until 31st August