Summer Holiday

I was off on my summer holiday - courtesy of this society! This is a really feel-good musical filled with many Cliff Richard hit songs . . . among them Bachelor Boy, Living Doll, Move It, On The Beach, and, of course, the famed We’re All going On A Summer Holiday. Four young bus mechanics lads, during a miserable wet British summer, decide to take a big London Transport double-decker bus and drive it across continental Europe, to reach the South of France (via Athens!) for a holiday. This amicable quartet worked extremely well together and came over as a bunch of likely lads! In true Musketeer fashion – it was all for one, and one for all! Led by Don (Scott McRuvie), his was an enthusiastic, happy-go-lucky, and well assured performance; and then there was Matthew Millar’s strong (“windy”) Cyril, plus a robust Keiron Bole as “girl-mad” Steve; with Josh Smith playing dependable Edwin. When the lads then meet a trio of young women – singing trio Do Re Me and, later, a famous, runaway singer, pretending to be a male, the holiday becomes that more “complicated” as various relationships begin to develop. The three Do Re Me girls were each superb in each of their own roles, developing their characters perfectly so, take a bow, Mimsie (Rebecca Waghorn), Alma (Joanna Leslie), and Angie (Rachel Weir). Playing the runaway show singer star, Barbara, was a confident Claire Wallis, playing her with great boyish charm (as the plot demands!) she looked, sang and danced well, and fell in love with Don, thus providing the main love theme in the show. In fact, the entire youthful cast were all in top form and played their roles with flawless ease. Comedy was in the safe hands of a great gruesome twosome - Gillian Brown as the overbearing, protective, but conniving, Stella (Barbara’s mother) and the singer’s agent, Jerry, in an over-the-top, highly camp performance from Ewan McDyer. He looked hilarious as a moustachioed “Heidi”! The company showed endless energy dancing the well-known musical numbers and, we must not forget the “star” of the show – the big red London Transport bus! It was great to hear all those wonderful Cliff songs of yesteryear and memories came flooding back! Thanks folks, I had a great summer holiday!

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.