Bugsy Malone

As something of a theatrical evergreen, ‘Bugsy’ is a stage favourite with many a youth society, yet until now, it was a show I had only ever encountered in its original film incarnation, never live on stage. I’ve always had a fondness for Paul Williams’ music and the film has a real charm, chiefly due to thejuxtaposition of youth and maturity, with adult voices issuing forth from the mouths of the young gangsters and their molls in the musical numbers. I have often wondered how the show would stand up on stage without this central gimmick but had no doubt that if any society could give the show the airing it deserves, it would be PHYT who are this year celebrating their silver anniversary, having been producing a diverse range of entertainments for the last 25 years at the wonderful Hippodrome Theatre.

With the band already on stage – as house band at Fat Sam’s speakeasy - it was as if the shady world of 1920s gangster land had come to Colne as the show burst into life straight away. A series of vignettes bounced along to introduce us to the rival gangs and the dangers of the splurge gun with the audience immediately caught up in the action. Bugsy being the central figure of the piece, acting as narrator and the bridge between events on stage and the audience, a confident and likeable character is needed: fortunately, Lewis Bolton essayed the role with great charm and as always, made his performance look completely natural, replete with an easy confidence.In fact, there wasn’t a weak link in the cast, with a host of really strong performances: everyone on stage really seemed to be enjoying themselves and in a show such as this, that’s a very important element of the show’s success.

Ryan Sparks as Fat Sam gave a very strong performance, every inch the concerned gang boss and his motley crew of incompetent mobsters (Jack Parry, Ella Thompson, James Holt and Marcus Geldard – all giving strong performances) really had the audience on side from the start. Brogan Riley as Blousey Brown was particularly good: her well-rounded and finely nuanced performance was striking in its intensity and was a creation of skill and imagination. Ben Fontaine was a sympathetic and likeable Fizzy and melted the audience’s hearts with ‘Tomorrow’ and Robyn Hargreaves was a voluptuous and confident Tallulah. Blundering through the show always at least one step behind the action, Smolsky and O’Dreary were comically brought to life by James Hall and Madison Pearson and Dandy Dan (Nick Staton) and his gang showed themselves to be a force to be reckoned with in the splurge gun department! With a cast list longer than the Old Testament, it’s impossible to mention each and every young performer by name but it is certainly worth reiterating that there really wasn’t a weak link, with everyone on stage acquitting themselves with aplomb. A special mention must go however to Grace Hall – a little dynamo of theatrical flair who threw herself into everything she did and caught my eye on the packed stage on more than one occasion: someone to look out for in the future there I think!

Musical numbers were uniformly strong and very well-choreographed, full of life and energy and having the band on the stage throughout the show also meant that they could join in with the fun, really helping to create a great atmosphere. The gangsters’ cars were fantastic creations – full marks to the tech team there! – and the silent movie film section was superbly well executed: a real high point of the show which received a well-deserved round of applause. The audition scene was really well done, full of well-drawn cameos and had the audience chuckling away and the breezy way in which the show fizzed with life and enthusiasm couldn’t fail to carry the large and appreciative audience along. I have to admit to finding the constant scene changing quite tiresome and a tad distracting - there always seemed to be something being dragged on or bundled off stage, or things being set up on one side of the stage while something else was happening on the other – but I suppose that’s the nature of the show and there is little that could be done about it. Also, without the central conceit of world-weary adult voices singing forth from the mouths of young actors - surely the sole comic point of the film? -‘Bugsy Malone’ did seem to be a rather slight and frothy sort of show about very little, but then, I’m probably just being an old curmudgeon!

In her programme notes, director Jill Harrison hints at this show being her first time in the director’s chair: knowing Jill as I do, I find this a staggering revelation. Why it is that someone of Jill’s considerable talent has not been approached to helm a production before seems both baffling and terribly hard to believe: hopefully, with the great success of ‘Bugsy Malone’, it is an oversight that can be rectified.This was a production full of energy and enthusiasm, with many performances which were incredibly strong and showed the guiding hand of an inspiring director. The large and very appreciative audience who left the theatre smiling and entertained is a testament to that vision and hard work, brought to life by the dedicated and hard-working team at the Hippodrome. Here’s to the next 25 years!

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.