Review: Me and My Girl

by Daniel Hill

Chichester Festival Theatre have had many-a-success with their Summer Musical and this year Me and My Girl with music by Noel Gay and original book and lyrics by L Arthur Rose and Douglas Furber; this production used the revised book by Stephen Fry. Daniel Evans directs his fourth production as Artistic Director after Fiddler on The Roof and the recent West End transfer, QUIZ. This summer Me and My Girl is a feel good musical which leaves everyone beaming as they leave at both the interval and the end. Matt Lucas had to sit out for a few performances at the beginning of the run due to health problems in relation to his throat, although I was lucky enough to see him in the role of Bill Snubs.

The script itself is full of laughs and by having Matt Lucas in the leading role these tend to appear almost every minute. The power of having  a comedian at the centre of a show is made clear once again by the creative team at Chichcester after Omid Djalli’s brilliant performance of Tevye last summer which is met, if not exceeded, by Lucas. The show is also full of  a number of feel good songs which include ‘Me and My Girl’, ‘Lambeth Walk’, ‘The Sun Has Got His Hat On’ and ‘Leaning of a Lampost.’ Although these may be the most well-known songs in this musical, the show is full of other brilliant music, most notably I think is ‘Once You Lose Your Heart’ which is performed phenomenally by  Alex Young. She brings a lot of emotion to the stage at this point and is able to complete fill the grand theatre.

The Choreography from Alistair David is mesmerising and brings a further sense of energy if the songs don’t provide it themselves. Particularly at the beginning and during The Lambeth Walk, we see the whole cast suddenly fill the stage with sensational dance. The other choreography that is amazing is the tap dancing, however this maybe more down to the execution due to the range of footwear worn while tapping. This goes right from high heels to wellington boots which I would have never expected to have witnessed tap performed in them.

The cast is pretty strong and as I have said earlier, Matt Lucas is a perfect match for the lead role. His comic timing is made for the role and he is able to use this to his advantage aswell his convincing acting and notable singing. His dance work is also pretty impressive. However, I think it is Alex Young who is really indispencible to this cast as she is stunning in the role of Sally. It is worth mentioning again her emotional commitment in the role, particularly in ‘Once You Lose Your Heart’, which really shines through and above the rest of the cast. She brought both energy and sentiment to the stage which I felt kept the musical propelling forward. Caroline Quentin and Clive Rowe were also very good in their roles and they really added to the performance. There were too many brilliant actors to mention due to the sheer amazing performance given by every person on stage, however I thought these four were particularly notable throughout the show.

Chichester Festival Theatre didn’t quite have the success they deserved last year with Fiddler On The Roof so I hope that, unlike Fiddler, that Me and My Girl is able to reach the heights it deserves which is at minimum a national tour, if not a very well deserved West End transfer. If anyone was thinking that this is not quite the musical for them, they should be braced to be proved wrong by this strong cast of individuals that are brought togeather to create an even better cast.