The Stage

All The Fun Of The Fair

Published Wednesday 16 November 2011 at 12:25 by Paul Vale

After a brief period in the West End, this jukebox musical featuring a back catalogue of songs by David Essex is once again embarking on a tour of the UK. The amiable and not altogether predictable tale sees a Romeo and Juliet love story unfold in a seventies funfair. As ubiquitious as Essex may have been in the seventies pop and musical theatre scene, there are not really enough hits to populate the story and all of the best numbers appear in the first act.

David Essex (Levi Lee) All The Fun Of The Fair New Wimbledon, London Photo: Paul Mitchell

This said, there is a narrative edge to the rest of Essex’ play-list, which adapts well to the musical theatre concept and forms a decent structure on which to hang a story. The whole project is helped by Ian Westbrook’s colourful set capturing the shabby charm of a fading funfair but hindered by poor sound at this venue and an ensemble that appears to be flagging.

Ultimately what makes this tour worth the ticket price is the presence of its composer in a leading role, a rare and welcome sight on stage today. Essex presence on stage as Levi is dangerously louche but devilishly charming, replete with disgracefully sly silent asides to a legion of fans in the audience.

Louise English as Rosa is more than a match for Essex on stage and one of the highlights of the evening is the delightful Rock On number where, joined by David Burrows as Harvey, the mature members of the cast recall a wilder youth. Match this sentiment with a partisan audience and the younger Rob Compton as a strident Jack and Tanya Robb as Alice don’t really stand a chance although Susan Hallam-Wright as his jilted love Mary and Tim Newman as the idiot savant Johnny fair a little better in terms of character development.