The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole age 13 ¾, The Musical
Performed by Chelmsford Young Generation
Venue: Cramphorn Theatre
Credits: Book and Lyrics by Jake Brunger, Music and Lyrics by Pippa Cleary
Type: Sardines
Author: Michael Gray
Performance Date: 26th April 2022
Super Trouper on the party playlist? Must be seeing in the New Year 1981, as the legendary Adrian Mole puts pen to paper in his new diary.
He’s been a radio show, a book, television and straight drama over the years [not to mention growing old alongside his many fans]. But this is a new-ish musical from 2015, and here’s Young Gen with the first youth group production anywhere in the country.
Director Jimmy Hooper channels the energies of his cast into some great production numbers – not sure that it’s what Adrian would have wanted, but it certainly suited the group and its enthusiastic audience.
Excellent work from the ensemble – the key here, as this group have always known, is to have everyone 100% invested and involved. Look at that Girl, where a pink follow-spot heralds the first appearance of Anna Edmondson’s perfect Pandora, is one of the best, together with the inspirational Take A Stand Act One finale.
There are more intimate moments, too, with Bethany Irvine’s Mrs Mole wishing she were a Perfect Mother, and the clever Lost Love trio, with Hayden Wagland’s hapless Dad joining his wife and his son.
The characters in Adrian’s complicated life – “a constant drama” – are all seen through his adolescent specs, so larger-than-life stereotypes, all very enjoyable: Lucy Burrows as Dad’s New Best Friend, Tommy Edwards as lecherous Mr Lucas, with his polo-neck, his flares and his chest hair, Fortune Ibrahim as Adrian’s devoted Grandma, and Sam Acton as Bert, the OAP from hell.
The bog-standard comp is full of clichés, too: the lovely Miss Elf [Jess Martin] the sadistic Scruton [Lauren Ely], Nigel the faithful friend [Dara Gleeson] and of course Barry the bully [Joe Papalie].
Gene Gardner’s Mole establishes his character with his body language before he even opens the diary. A confident performance, often hilarious, often moving, he captures perfectly the would-be intellectual on the threshold of adult life, the Leicester lad dreaming of literary and romantic success. And he’s an accomplished dancer and vocalist too.
Bryan Cass’s band look as if they’re hiding in Bert Baxter’s attic, but they provide pulse and punch for what is mostly a vanilla, derivative score, though the Infidelity Tango and the separation duet catch the mood, and the period.
There’s much wry nostalgia – Thatcher, that Royal Wedding [given an over-extended satirical twist], Dallas and Germaine Greer. And, perhaps too prominent, a PC proto-feminist Nativity Play, with Adrian the iconoclastic author and Pandora the Virgin Mary.
This funny, fresh show – it finally reached the West End in 2019 – has music and lyrics by Pippa Cleary, and a book and lyrics by Jake Brunger, who was in the audience with us on opening night, and stayed on to congratulate the kids and pose for pictures.
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole age 13 ¾, The Musical
Performed by Chelmsford Young Generation
Venue: Cramphorn Theatre
Credits: Book and Lyrics by Jake Brunger, Music and Lyrics by Pippa Cleary
Type: Sardines
Author: Michael Gray
Performance Date: 26th April 2022
Super Trouper on the party playlist? Must be seeing in the New Year 1981, as the legendary Adrian Mole puts pen to paper in his new diary.
He’s been a radio show, a book, television and straight drama over the years [not to mention growing old alongside his many fans]. But this is a new-ish musical from 2015, and here’s Young Gen with the first youth group production anywhere in the country.
Director Jimmy Hooper channels the energies of his cast into some great production numbers – not sure that it’s what Adrian would have wanted, but it certainly suited the group and its enthusiastic audience.
Excellent work from the ensemble – the key here, as this group have always known, is to have everyone 100% invested and involved. Look at that Girl, where a pink follow-spot heralds the first appearance of Anna Edmondson’s perfect Pandora, is one of the best, together with the inspirational Take A Stand Act One finale.
There are more intimate moments, too, with Bethany Irvine’s Mrs Mole wishing she were a Perfect Mother, and the clever Lost Love trio, with Hayden Wagland’s hapless Dad joining his wife and his son.
The characters in Adrian’s complicated life – “a constant drama” – are all seen through his adolescent specs, so larger-than-life stereotypes, all very enjoyable: Lucy Burrows as Dad’s New Best Friend, Tommy Edwards as lecherous Mr Lucas, with his polo-neck, his flares and his chest hair, Fortune Ibrahim as Adrian’s devoted Grandma, and Sam Acton as Bert, the OAP from hell.
The bog-standard comp is full of clichés, too: the lovely Miss Elf [Jess Martin] the sadistic Scruton [Lauren Ely], Nigel the faithful friend [Dara Gleeson] and of course Barry the bully [Joe Papalie].
Gene Gardner’s Mole establishes his character with his body language before he even opens the diary. A confident performance, often hilarious, often moving, he captures perfectly the would-be intellectual on the threshold of adult life, the Leicester lad dreaming of literary and romantic success. And he’s an accomplished dancer and vocalist too.
Bryan Cass’s band look as if they’re hiding in Bert Baxter’s attic, but they provide pulse and punch for what is mostly a vanilla, derivative score, though the Infidelity Tango and the separation duet catch the mood, and the period.
There’s much wry nostalgia – Thatcher, that Royal Wedding [given an over-extended satirical twist], Dallas and Germaine Greer. And, perhaps too prominent, a PC proto-feminist Nativity Play, with Adrian the iconoclastic author and Pandora the Virgin Mary.
This funny, fresh show – it finally reached the West End in 2019 – has music and lyrics by Pippa Cleary, and a book and lyrics by Jake Brunger, who was in the audience with us on opening night, and stayed on to congratulate the kids and pose for pictures.
