Spend Spend Spend

Based on the life of Pools Winner Vivian Nicholson, this gritty down to earth musical is a real slice of English small town life in the sixties. The localised history of this decade, the close knit mining community feeling, the poverty, hard brutal reality of life for many families at that time is all reflected in this show.

Written by Steve Brown and Justin Greene based on the book by Viv Nicholson and Stephen Smith, Spend Spend Spend premiered in 1998, it is a beautifully crafted show that brought a real sense of nostalgia to me for the Castleford area.

The show is a retrospective piece with two actors playing the role of Viv. Older Viv who seemed to barely leave the stage, was beautifully portrayed by Mellows newcomer Helen Thrupp. The facial characteristics displayed as she recounted her Rags to Riches to Rags tale was excellent, her singing and physical demeanour was stunning at times. I felt I was seeing a personal recollection.

Equally mesmerising in a very different way was Young Viv, Natalie Veasey, a powerhouse performance, brash, fragile, sexy, yet the sense of almost waiting to get off the roller coaster ride towards the end was palpable. The harmony singing with older Viv was beautifully measured and presented.

Joe Bromfield as Keith bore an uncanny resemblance to the real Keith. Again very well acted and sung.

Alan Lowe as Viv's archetypal brute of a father George, unforgiving, hard drinking miner, very much a working man of the time, great characterisation.

Maria Smith as Viv's mum certainly kept the uncompromising George in check, strong Northern woman, she had to be, again very well presented character.

The rest of the skilful cast had multiple roles to play, all of whom adding to the compelling nature of the story, it was very immersive and somehow relateable, as I said earlier I had an affinity for the area in my early adulthood it reminded me of my weekends spent there some how, even though it was the late seventies when I was there.

Musical Directors Sara Kimber and Alex Priestley brought a sublime performance from their fellow musicians, the ensemble were excellent.

Director Andrew Warner, in fact the whole production team should be very proud of their achievement, from the opening scene, the clever bar set, the feel, sound and look of the show was spot on. A very enjoyable show.

The costumes were great, my only criticism would be young Viv's underwear not quite being era appropriate for the early 60's the time of white or black girdles, bra's and nylons.

Despite the odd first night nerves this show has again raised the bar for the Mellows. Wonderfully vivid story telling.

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