Bugsy Malone

Bugsy Malone, is a musical written by Alan Parker based on the 1976 film featuring a very young Jodie Foster and Scott Baio.  The musical is a gangster spoof and tells about the rivalry between the gangsters Fat Sam and his arch-rival Dandy Dan, as they battle each other for overall control of New York. 

The musical is performed entirely by young people in the roles of adult actors and for this reason it was the perfect choice for Horncastle Upstagers. Directed by Nancy, Michelle, Priscilla and Mia, this was a wonderful, show full of enthusiasm and passion with some very talented leads. 

The play opened with Razmatazz (Ava Chinary the Musical Director) who is the pianist at Fat Sam’s Grandslam, singing about our hero Bugsy Malone (Ben T) giving some insight into his character, while a montage of black and white photographs plays behind him.   

Bugsy is also our narrator who gives us his viewpoint into unfolding events delivered with an authentic American accent and the snappy style of film noire. Suddenly, there is a surprise attack, and we are in the middle of a turf war.  Hoodlums sporting machine guns assassinate a lawyer while he is at the barbers, leaving him lying in a ‘pool’ of shaving foam.  These are the splurge guns the new high-tech alternative to the humble custard cream pie.  I especially loved the sardonic undertakers (Libby and Sakura) who came each time to dispose of the corpse, a recurring motif, accompanied by funereal music, as the body count starts to rise.

More attacks follow, as events start to escalate, but who can be behind the surprise attacks?  Bugsy meets Blousey Brown (Tamzyn) a wise cracking streetwise wanna-be singer with dreams of Hollywood, who is hoping to audition for a singing role at Fat Sam’s club.  

Fat Sam’s speakeasy ‘Grandslam’ is a riot of energy with Charleston dancing girls who keep the punters happy led by Fat Sam’s moll the sassy Tallulah (Ruby Cairns.) Fat Sam (Ben Turner) himself watches over his empire with his goofy sidekicks.  I loved the matching 20s style white and gold fringed dresses worn by the dancers (Madeline, Herbie, Sakura, Libby, Thea and Alex and Brooke) and the snazzy energetic choreography as they extoll the virtues of the speak easy being a place where people can socialise without interruption from the law.   Suddenly, the rival gangsters burst in toting their lethal splurge guns hitting Fat Sam right in his vulnerable place. 

We next find out who is behind the surprise attacks – it is Dandy Dan (Jack) a rival gangster who has designs on Fat Sam’s ‘patch’ with intentions to humiliate him and then take over.  Unfortunately, one of Dan’s men Doodle has dropped his gun which has brought them to the attention of the incompetent police, Captain Smolsky (Rachel) and Officer O’Dreary (Jessica.)

Blousey is told by Fat Sam to ‘come back to tomorrow’ a phrase that Fizzy (Suzi) the club’s cleaner has heard many times and Fizzy sings a beautiful haunting song about their ambitions for stardom.

Fat Sam realises his position as ‘top salami’ is being gradually eroded and he is losing the respect of his employees. Things go from bad to worse as one after another he loses his business rackets, and then his henchmen are attacked. A desperate Sam employs Bugsy as a driver to trick Dandy Dan into an ambush, but following a tip off, the tables are turned and Bugsy rescues Fat Sam earning his thanks and a hefty pay off. 

Unfortunately, that night Bugsy is mugged losing his money and rescued in the nick of time by Leroy (Kayden) who shows an innate talent for fighting.  Bugsy takes him to Cagey Joe’s Boxing Club to try him out as a boxer and realises he has a champion fighter on his hands.  

Leroy and Bugsy find the heavily guarded dock where the splurge guns are being kept and hatches a plan to steal some, but he needs more manpower.  A group of disheartened down and outs appear dependent on charity after hitting rock bottom – Bugsy tries to reason with the bums building up their shattered confidence - could they be the army Bugsy needs?

Some very strong performances from everyone as the ensemble took on many different roles to tell the story including reporters, waiters, would be auditionees and police.  Fat Sam’s gang led by Knuckles (Ettie) performed a witty routine to Bad Guys with some inventive choreography.  Zachary also had various roles including a very funny barman who adlibbed beautifully when he was late for his cue!

Tallulah played by Ruby, used her sassy attitude and sharp wit to seduce Bugsy and tease Blousey. Her delivery of My Name is Tallulah was sung with a knowing attitude as she stood hands on hips staring directly at the audience.  She showed she was more than a match for Fat Sam running rings around him but still recognising when she had overstepped her mark.

Tamzyn created a feisty character as Blousey Brown, and she had a lovely rapport with Bugsy finally dropping her prickly guard only to have her heart broken by his apparent flirting with Talullah.   Her song Ordinary Fool following Bugsy’s betrayal at not taking her to Hollywood to pursue her dreams, was delivered with real passion and heartbreak. 

Fat Sam was a witty character created by Ben Turner whose steady fall from grace was dealt with by sarcasm and a blustering attitude as he could not believe the incompetence of the fools around him. Jack as Dandy Dan was a complete opposite to his counterpart the rough and ready Italian gangster Fat Sam, showing breeding though a love of classical music and a more cultured accent.  Both boys performed their parts well.

Ben as Bugsy was excellent as the washed-up boxer with ‘jelly legs and a glass jaw’ looking for a chance to prove himself while sardonically narrating the story.  His relationship with Blousey was lovely preferring her straight forward attitude to Tallulah’s manipulations.  His American accent was good and he performed his lines with confidence and pace. I loved his song to the ‘bums’ showing good vocals. 

Special mention to Suzi as Fizzy the frustrated cleaner who sang her song Tomorrow with such confidence and a pitch perfect delivery and Kayden, who played one of the bad guys and would-be-boxer Leroy, managing to create pure comedy out of one word – nope!

Costumes were perfect for the 1920s era featuring lots of attention to detail such as two-tone shoes and authentic looking an American police uniform. The opposing gangs were created using waistcoats and coloured ties and the hairstyles were also in keeping with the period.  The set was simple with a platform for Fat Sam but was used very effectively I particularly liked the vintage telephones and the fact that the props were cleared efficiently for example in one scene Blousey put all the remaining props in her bag. The use of the tablecloth for the restaurant which was removed to reveal a lace one for Dandy Dan’s home highlighted their cultural differences.  

I was especially impressed with the projected back drop which was used very effectively for scene changes but also in a hilarious car chase featuring a real vintage motor from James Tempest, plus other black and white photos of the cast, which all added to the overall professionalism of the show. 

Well done to each and every one of you, for a wonderful show your facial expressions and body language showed you were totally immersed in the performance and your pure joy at the end covered in shaving foam and streamers was a delight to see. 

Congratulations to all the ‘grown ups’ behind the scenes sourcing costumes and props, painting sets and creating choreography and Chris and Ava for playing the incidental music.  Finally, the chaperones behind the scenes allowing each junior cast member to participate. 

I was also delighted to be invited onto the stage by Nancy to greet the cast and the obvious support of each other and pride of their directors was lovely to see - well done everyone, I look forward to seeing your next production. 

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