Having now basked in daily sunshine for two months, Brighton seems to be the perfect place for the Summer Holiday double-decker London bus to make it’s latest stop. With the seaside just a stones throw away and the kids about to break up from school, the atmosphere inside the auditorium is very much suited to the production.
The story, for the few who have never seen the iconic 1963 film version with Cliff Richard and the Shadows, tells of a group of young bus mechanics who renovate and refurbish an old London bus so that they can head off to the south of France for their two week summer break.
Their plans, however, fall at the first hurdle when, after spotting a stranded girl singing group, they agree to take them to Greece, via France, Switzerland, Italy and a very dodgy ferry trip, instead. Along the way they also discover a stowaway singing star on the run from her ghastly mother and they almost run over an Italian bride. However, with very little in the way of scenery, apart from the iconic bus and some picture postcard borders, it is left to some vintage “foreign” accents, that sometimes border on the offensive, to give us a sense of location.
The lead role of Don, in Michael Gyngell and Mark Haddigan’s touring production, is played by television favourite, singer, skater and West End star, Ray Quinn. Dropping his Scouse accent for a forced upper class “Jolly Hockey Sticks” accent may not have been the wisest idea, but after a while it just adds to the huge amount of charm and charisma that he brings to the role. He also shows off his fantastically nimble footwork and superb singing voice, as he makes this pivotal role his own.
Don’s three workmates, Steve, Edwin and Cyril, are played by Billy Roberts, Joe Goldie and Brighton’s very own, Rory Maguire, with Gabby Antrobus, Alice Baker and Laura Marie Benson as Mimsie, Alma and Angie, the girl group who perform under the unlikely name of Do-Re-Mi.
The stowaway, who disguises herself as 14 year old boy Bobby, and then reveals herself as famous singer Barbara Winters is played beautifully by Sophie Matthew with tremendously comic performances by Taryn Sudding as her manipulative and overbearing Mother, Stella, and Wayne Smith in the role of Stella’s downtrodden companion, Jerry.
The plot for the musical is exactly the same as that of the film, paper-thin, but that doesn’t stop this show being a hit, because the energy that bursts out of this tremendously talented cast, together with a back catalogue of Cliff hits that includes, Move It, Bachelor Boy, The Young Ones, Do You Wanna Dance?, On The Beach, Livin’ Doll and, of course, Summer Holiday together with the lesser known, but equally entertaining, numbers I’ve Got Funny Feeling, A Swinging Affair and We Say Yeah, ensure that the audience has a supremely enjoyable night out.
If you’re planning to go “where the sun shines brightly“, spend the day on the Palace Pier and then head to the Theatre Royal for a show that will leave you humming and, as I witnessed outside the theatre last night, dancing all the way home!
**** Four Stars