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Diamond celebration for brothers Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Wolverhampton Grand
****
HOW far you would get these days pitching an idea for a musical
involving a bunch of backwoods rednecks bowling into some Oregon town,
kidnapping half a dozen women and holing up with them for the winter
would be . . . interesting. It
might go down well as an episode of
Criminal Minds or
CSI, but as a
musical, and a musical comedy at that? But Seven Brides is from the more innocent time of 1954 and the golden age of MGM musicals, and even in our PC world and transferred to the stage it still has an endearing appeal as it celebrates the Diamond Wedding of its brides and brothers. Some of the songs are familiar
but are hardly
standards – you can’t imagine Sinatra or Buble singing Lonesome
Polecat or even Bless Your Beautiful Hide but they are catchy
and there are some nice ballads in there such as Love Never Goes Away
and the new Where Were You? This is a new restaged version
and it has managed to keep the charm and innocence
of the original film, with its hoedown, barn dance
feel but most of all you can feel the enthusiasm of a cast who seem to
be enjoying every minute on stage. And when the cast look like they are
having fun it is infectious with the audience joining in.
Sam Attwater has Hollyoaks and
EastEnders in his CV along with winning Dancing on Ice and
provides an agreeable Adam Pontipee (what were Albert Hackett, Frances
Goodrich, and Dorothy Kingsley, who wrote the original screenplay, on
when they came up with that surname one wonders). He is the head of the family of seven brothers
and he is perhaps not as tough, gruff and ornery, as they say in those
parts, as you might expect but this is musical theatre, not
Deliverance we are talking about and he looks the part with a voice
that is pleasant enough. His wife, Millie, was courted in about 10 minutes on a shopping trip for vittles in town, when he had promised his six brothers he would also pick up a bride to do all the cooking and cleaning. He somehow forgot the bit about the six brothers, and the cooking an cleaning, when he proposed, which meant the wedding did not get off to the best of starts. Millie, is played by Helena Blackman who deserves
to be known for much more that being runner up on How Do You Solved a
Problem Like Maria? As for the rest of the brides and brothers . . .
the dancing and ensemble singing was just superb, although a short
balletic sequence in the second act looks somewhat incongruous. Add to that the equally talented young men from
the township who had had their womenfolk kidnapped and you had a big
cast with dancing of the highest order directed and choreographed by
Broadway award winner Patti Colombo on an inventive set from Anna
Louizos. A mention too for the seven piece band under
Bruce Knight who kept up a thigh slappin’ pace all night with a special
mention for Jade Brightwell on fiddle – it says violin in the programme
but out in the backwoods of Oregon, it’s a fiddle. The brides and brothers are still fun 60 years on
and this new, reworked production should give them a few more years yet.
To 05-04-14. Roger Clarke
Meanwhile over the next
ridge . . .
**** SOME of the
choreography in this much-loved musical is simply breathtaking, with a
livewire cast dancing, somersaulting and cartwheeling in a style that is
a joy to watch. Since the show is directed and
choreographed by Broadway’s award-winning Patti Colombo, that shouldn’t
surprise anyone. There are some great songs,
too, but Eastenders actor Sam Attwater, star of ITV’s Dancing on Ice,
seems strangely out of place in the lead role of rough, tough
backwoodsman Adam Pontipee who rides into town to do a bit of shopping
and get a bride, omitting to tell her he has six hungry brothers living
under the same cabin roof. Attwater lacks the gravel
voice and aggressive attitude required for such a key role, and when the
musical was at Birmingham’s New Alexandra Theatre recently his
understudy, Brummie Alex Hammond, was outstanding. Helena Blackman impresses as
Milly who accepts Adam’s quick marriage proposal and has to tame his
uncouth brothers then teach them how to win over the girls in a town
where men outnumber girls ten to one. The brothers, the brides and
the suitors all sparkle and with songs like Wonderful, Wonderful Day,
Bless Your Beautiful Hide, Goin’ Courtin, Sobin’ Women and Glad That You
Were Born, the show is a winner. To 05-04-14. Paul Marston
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