Sooo it was raining in Glasgow yesterday and going to the theatre is cheaper than going to the cinema so Our House it was. Admittedly the only thing I knew about the show was that it involved Madness music so I went in on the basis that it wasn't wet and would at least be a good way to spend two and a half hours and I was pleasantly surprised, well by the end of Act Two at the end of Act One I still wasn't sold.
The orchestrations of the original music to fit it in with the direction of the musical are superb. Steve Sidwell (who worked on Kerry Ellis' Wicked in Rock recently amongst a myriad of other things) has done a superb job picking out the segments of music that would best compliment the scenes. It Must Be Love is beautifully rearranged.
Quick plot synopsis: it's a run of the mill musical love story but intertwined with a stronger story of morality. It's the story of Joe Casey a young lad in Camden and the two paths his life takes depending on the choices he makes. Given that it is a jukebox musical, Tim Firth has done a fantastic job of creating a more than passable plotline. Admittedly there are sections where I was wondering where exactly it was going but on the whole it flowed well and was believable.
At the end of Act One I was still very unsure of the show and with a theatre that appeared to be no more than 20% full there wasn't a lot of energy to be taken from a hyped audience to help but the cast sold it in Act Two. You wouldn't know that this was Chris Carswell's (Joe Casey) first professional role, he was brilliant.
The staging used to support the flow of the plot was extremely clever and quickly set the tone for each scene. Chris Carswell pulls off some of the most phenominal quick changes you'll see in musical theatre. It makes the quick change at the start of One Short Day in Wicked look like an eternity. I think the show is actually in the Guinness Book of Records for the highest number of quick changes an actor has to make. The Union Jack umbrella section is undoubtedly the cleverest thing I have ever seen, if you go and see the show keep your eyes peeled for that bit you won't believe them!
Being a touring production of course you need your big names on the top of the poster to get people into the theatre and with Our House it's Steve Brookstein (X Factor winner for the non-Brits) and Gwyneth Strong (probably best known as Cassandra in Only Fools and Horses). Although their names are quite probably selling the tickets, the show itself is made by the young leads Chris Carswell and Miria Parvin along with a superb 20-strong ensemble. This cast has to SWEAT for its money, Baggy Trousers was fast-paced and looked exhausting. Chris Carswell does an excellent job as Joe Casey and Miria Parvin, as the girl in his life Sarah, stops the show in Act Two with, a brand new Madness song, NW5.
I have to confess Steve Brookstein's role of Joe's Dad / Narrator didn't grow on me as I thought it would. Those of you who have seen Blood Brothers will recognise a lot of the Narrator from that in Joe's Dad, the parallels are uncanny and if I'm honest the Narrator in Blood Brothers works better because he is objective as opposed to a father trying to guide his son from beyond the grave.
There is a huge amount of energy in this production and the ending caught me by surprise, the twists and turns that a life can take depending on a simple choice are fascinating and again credit to Tim Firth for a book that really stands up under scrutiny. It's a shame that it's sold so heavily as a musical based on Madness music, as I know Madness music isn't for everyone, because this show has real credibility in its own right. It has its ridiculous moments but hey it's musical theatre and it wouldn't be musical theatre if it wasn't at least a little bit cheesy. Glasgow is only third on the touring schedule and this cast are great so if it's coming to your town go and give it a go, you might be pleasantly surprised.