Doctor Dolittle

Published Friday 5 October 2007 at 12:30 by James Green

The Churchill and Bill Kenwright have spent lavishly on this production and that fact lights up the stage even more than Tommy Steele’s flashing white teeth.

Even without the box office insurance of Steele heading a big cast, the show is an obvious winner thanks to all the talking animals, a dazzling display of costumes, and the fact it is family entertainment.

With the aid of puppeteers and part of the company in animal skins, likes of a speaking lobster, duck, hen, pig, ostrich, seal, badger, owl, horse and elephant are taking part.

Particular stand-outs are a dancing two-headed Ilama, Pushme-Pullyu, a chatty parrot and lovable Jip the dog.

So when Steele’s eccentric doctor-vet sings I’ve Never Seen Anything Like it in My Life, you can sense the audience nodding in agreement.

Despite the help of his loquacious animals, he has to carry the story himself and earn his star billing. That he does seamlessly, despite playing with a stoop that brings memories of him as Scrooge, with a lot of singing and a selection of dance steps.

It helps to have a ten-piece pit orchestra, led by Stuart Pedlar, and a crystal-voiced Abigail Jaye falling romantically for the madcap doc.

More eye-catching support comes from David Anthony as a circus owner, Halcro Johnston as the bullying general, and, give him a big paw, Matt Lyons as a near-human Jip.

Add some attractive sets, a measure of special effects, and even the Bermondsey Boy dancing with two orang-utans as part of the finale, and showbusiness could earn a good name.