OUR HOUSE

BOSSY at the Brentwood Theatre

10.11.10

The Madness Musical, all urban malice and bouncy beats, is a challenge to any group. Bossy brought to it their trademark enthusiasm, a great backing band and a large cast of suitably youthful spivs and scallies.

“Oh What Fun We Had ...”, the big ensembles came off best, especially the carnival Wings of A Dove, and the old school desks whizzing round on castors, though the vocal energy didn't always match the physical, and even that sometimes waned before the final chords. I liked the parody Who Will Buy, with newspapers, the Act One finale, and the duet It Must Be Love. The car sequence was less successful – it needed more acting and not so much cardboard car and pointless back projection.

These catchy Madness numbers are not an easy sing, and we do need to hear all the words if we are to follow the clever duality of the plot.

Perry Hughes had the demanding role of Joe, whose life divides into Good and Bad, with Livvie Milne as his girl. A strong performance from Josh Bishop as the absent Dad, watching the action from underneath the streetlamp, and excellent comedy work from the OMG Whatever Girls [Chloe Rickenbach and Laura Wood] and the gormless Emmo and Lewis [James Wilson and Ross Llewellyn].

Our House was directed for BOSSY by Gaynor Wilson, with Andy Prideaux in charge of the music. And respect to Barnett, for putting a full page ad in the programme, despite the less than glowing endorsement for property developers in the show ...