BETTY BLUE EYES

BETTY BLUE EYES

LODS at the Palace Theatre, Westcliff

04.05.17

for Sardines

On the day the Palace announce the Duke of Edinburgh's retirement from public life, LODS take us back 70 years to the Royal Wedding that began it all.

Based on the Alan Bennett film A Private Function, it's the tale of meat rationing, dodgy dealing and a clandestine pig, named Betty after the young Princess, which is to be slaughtered for a pork dinner in honour of the happy couple.

It's a charming production, directed with a playful sense of period by Sallie Warrington, who has a fine company at her disposal here.

Led by Michael James as a likeable chiropodist, his gentle personality radiating to all corners of the auditorium – he's an accomplished song and dance man, too. His Lady Macbeth of a wife, all ruthless ambition [the Scottish play is referenced quite frequently] is stunningly done by Joanne Halliday, superbly selling her big numbers: the Primrose Ballroom sequence, for instance, beautifully choreographed, with a lovely vocal trio supporting Halliday's assured voice.

Plenty of memorable character work for the rest of the cast to get their teeth into: Helen Sharpe relishes every batty moment as Mother Dear, Andy Stone is the stammering pig-fancier Allardyce [two more LODS regulars, Simon Sharpe and Peter Brown, are his corrupt fellow councillors] and Andrew Seal, in leather trench-coat and tooth-brush moustache, brings a touch of melodrama to the villain of the piece, Wormold from the Ministry. A special mention for the porcine star of the show, the sow herself. She's an endearing puppet, convincingly manipulated by her land-girl handler, Sara Hickling.

It's a strong ensemble show, with beautifully staged production numbers – the Nobody sequence, with showgirls sporting top hats, tails and canes, Another Little Victory with union flags, the hilarious extended Pig, No Pig scene, or the more thoughtful Magic Fingers, with three housewives suffering the aftermath of war. The dénouement is done with another sustained sequence, the Finale Ultimo where everyone confesses their part in the plot.

The setting [Paul Ward and Kevin Ward] is brilliantly simple: a toy-town cut-out Shepardsford, with the Chilvers' parlour folding out. Smoke from the chimneys, too. The vet's motor-car, ingeniously suggested in the tableau that ends Act One, becomes a lovely little model for the pig-napping that starts the second half.

The music – by George Stiles, to lyrics by Anthony Drewe – is catchy without being memorable [Stiles is no Sondheim]; but it's well served here by a first-rate pit band, conducted by Stuart Woolner. The Musical Director is Rachael Plunkett.

BETTY BLUE EYES

BETTY BLUE EYES

Made in Colchester at the Mercury Theatre

19.03.2014

for The Public Reviews

Not since Babe has there been such a winsome pig to tug at the heart-strings.

Betty is the clandestine hog roast on the hoof in Alan Bennett's film A Private Function, now, thirty years on, setting out on an ambitious tour of the UK as Betty Blue Eyes.

No animatronics here, but a charming puppet, with a permanently puzzled, trusting expression and a lovely land-girl handler [Lauren Logan].

The Yorkshire humans whose lives are touched by the eponymous pig are led by the show's stars, Hadyn Oakley as mild-mannered chiropodist Gilbert Chilvers and his Lady Macbeth, Amy Booth-Steel. Both giving bold but nuanced musical comedy performances, with impressive vocal work – A Place on the Parade, for example.

But as is often the case with musicals, it is the supporting roles that have the most fun. Kit Benjamin, exactly capturing the period style in his florid villain Dr Swaby. Sally Mates as Mother Dear – a real treat, this: her histrionic reaction to a perceived death threat, emoting on the staircase whilst taming a wayward door [one of several technical gremlins plaguing this press night] amongst many memorable moments. And Tobias Beer's demoniacal Government Inspector, brandishing his green paintbrush. Beer manages to make his numbers sound like Sondheim or Weill, no mean achievement. Elsewhere the score is more like standard-issue Bricusse, and fares best in those numbers which are staged with a clear sense of style [choreography by Andrew Wright] – the Morris-men hankies and the DofE Maypole, the pissoir Since The War, the knives and forks for the Mock Pork, the baskets for the ration-book housewives, the chorus in hairnets and trilbys for Joyce's fantasy, the splendid curtain call with the pink wellies, the blitz ballroom flash-back [stunningly agile jiving] and the gloriously operatic Pig/No Pig.

It's always a joy to see actor/musicians, and the occasional appearance of a solo violin reminds us of the piece's Bennett roots, that and the Leeds butchers and the wry one-liners which survive from the original script.

Daniel Buckroyd's inventive, economical production is set on a utility-grey set [designed by Sara Perks]: loads of doors and an ingenious fold-out parlour. The show is lovingly staged, with a fine sense of period.

Occasionally, in the longer vocal numbers, one might muse on how much the music actually adds to the drama and the comedy, but it's impossible not to warm to this poignant pig-tale of austerity and ingenuity in those dark postwar days.

production photograph: Robert Day

this piece first appeared on The Public Reviews

THINGS TO COME - BEHIND THE SCENES AT BETTY BLUE EYES

The Making of Betty Blue Eyes Exhibition at the Mercury

Ever wondered what goes in to making a mammoth musical comedy to take on a 102 date country-wide tour? Well, from Monday 3rd March you can find out when The Making of Betty Blue Eyes exhibition opens at the Mercury Theatre.
Visitors will get the chance to see exactly what happens when four of the finest regional theatres join forces to re-invent a superb West End musical.
Set in 1947 austerity Britain, Betty Blue Eyes received rave reviews when it premiered in the West End in 2011, picking up an Oliver Award nomination for Best New Musical.
Featuring exclusive behind the scenes footage and interviews with the cast and creatives, this live exhibition will change and grow over the weeks as new exhibits are introduced as the show approaches its opening night on Friday, March 14th. Visitors will get to see the intricate and sometimes bizarre details that go into staging a production of this magnitude such as 21 performers, 75 costumes, 46 pairs of shoes, 17 pairs of wellies, a porcelain foot and blue-eyed pig named Betty! 
The exhibition will open in the Mercury Theatres Digby Gallery on Monday, March 3rd and run until Saturday, April 5th. Entry is free and booking is not required.
Director of Communications Robin Fenwick said:
“We want to lift the veil on the work that goes on behind the scenes here at the Mercury. Our in-house production capabilities are among the best in the country, and this is an opportunity for us to show off everything from the construction of this show’s huge set, to the intricate stitching on the costumes.”
The show itself opens on Friday, March 14th at the Mercury Theatre before embarking on a 5 month tour across England in a new co-production between Mercury Theatre Colchester, Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, Salisbury Playhouse and West Yorkshire Playhouse.


Mercury Theatre Colchester
01206 573948

Book online at: www.mercurytheatre.co.uk