After a slightly tentative start (Dulwich audiences perhaps needing a little time to get into the rhythm of this audience participation lark) the Showstoppers’ travelling band of talented actors and musicians brought the house down with their rollicking (though somewhat unlikely) story of love and loss on the piste.
Having been given the task of setting a musical in a French Alpine ski resort, incorporating a toadstool theme, a Hawaiian dance and musical styles as diverse as Salad Days and (rather oddly) the music of Henry VIII, the cast gave us the tragic story of Henri (Philip Pellew), an illiterate ski professional, his deadly rivals, the oily champion, Philippe Crevasse (Andrew Pugsley) and his Apache/Piaf/Hellhound wife, Claudette.
Sean McCann (Writer/MC) skilfully manoeuvred his audience to have the ingénue Geraldine (Sarah-Louise Young) fall in love with the craggy, but philologically challenged, Henri and learn more of the seven types of snow. But the audience, backing an unlikely underdog, insisted that the minor character of Toby – an unprepossessing chalet boy – should come to the fore, win the (tandem?) ski race and the heart of our heroine.
The rest of the evening saw the Showstoppers working skilfully to work with this twist and turn it to their advantage in bringing Adam Meggido (Toby) and Julie Clare (Claudette) more centrally into the action. The denouement brought big tunes, high stepping dances, torch songs and a finale with the enduring message that, to learn to truly fly, one has first to “Bend ze Knees”. A masterclass in improvisation, the show was wildly appreciated by all.
The next visiting production to the Michael Croft Theatre is Pluck’s Musical Arson which comes to Dulwich on Tuesday 28 Feb at 7.30pm. Tickets to this ‘gloriously funny’ show can be booked at http://michaelcrofttheatre.org.uk.
