DADDY COOL. To 24 February.

London

DADDY COOL
book by Stephen Plaice with Amani Naphtali music by Boney M and Frank Farian

Shaftesbury Theatre To 24h February 2007
Mon-Thu 7.30pm, Fri 5.00 & 8.30pm, Sat 3.00 & 7.30pm
Runs 2hr 25min One interval

TICKETS: 020 7379 5399
Review: Geoff Ambler 22 September

Good moments lost in a muddled show.
This much-delayed musical is based around the music of Boney M, though not exclusively, and is co-produced by the man responsible for the group, Frank Farian. Boney M were a big deal in the 70's, scoring hit after disco hit; even now a few of their epoch-defining anthems appear on all-time favourites lists.

Daddy Cool's book loosely draws on West Side Story, amongst many other sources, though if you like a good story this might not be the show for you. As a concert performance, with a bit more work, it could have been an event; as a back-track musical it suffers from a poorly conceived story with occasionally cringe worthy lines, ill-advised lead casting and a couple of woeful performances.

Perhaps I needed to be younger, hipper and into rap-and-beat box, which just adds to the hotchpotch of music styles. The three headline performers, Michelle Collins, Harvey and Javine add little beyond a few recognisable faces and a Rear of the Year award.

Michelle Collins’ Ma Baker isn’t a believable mobsteress, and her solo "Got A Man On My Mind" needs a lot more work to justify the applause it gets. Javine does little beyond belting out a few numbers and Harvey seems under-utilised until the finale.

Fortunately the characters the show revolves around, Rose and Sunny (Camilla Beeput and Dwayne Wint) stand out, particularly in the Camden Market scene, the show’s high spot. "Sunny" is a fun, high energy scene and the only one that doesn't take itself too seriously.

The second act includes Melanie La Barrie’s notable "I Can’t Stand the Rain" and little else. Within a few songs the story is wrapped up without even the need for BBC's Rough Justice to free the wrongfully arrested Sunny. I felt as though the writers had got bored as well, and were eager to get to the finale to get the audience out of their seats and dancing.

Grandmother Ella: Hope Augustus
Zadie: Alani Gibbon
Young Sunny: Dion Laughton or Khai Shaw
Pearl: Melanie La Barrie
Pastor Brown: Larrington Walker
Sunny: Dwayne Wint
Flow: Richard ‘Lianhart’ Francis
Shake: Harvey
Isis: Helen Karup
G-Dog: Duane O’ Garro
Rasputin: Donovan F Blackwood
Benny: Davie Fairbanks
Dex: Marc Small
Naz: Ricky Norwood
Marvin: Elliot Treend
Hype: Page
Ma Baker: Michelle Collins
Asia Blue: Javine
Sandra: Shelley Williams
Rose: Camilla Beeput
Jonny Cool: Emmanuel Sonubi
Young Pearl: Shelley Williams
Young Margret: Maria Swainson

Director: Andy Goldberg
Designer: Jon Morrell
Lighting: David Hersey
Choreographer: Sean Cheesman
Costume: Jon Morrell

2006-09-24 12:18:07