Leeds Grand Theatre – until Saturday 1 March 2025
Reviewed by Adam Craddock
5*****
Mange tout mange tout!
Tonight’s review took me to the gorgeous Leeds Grand Theatre to take in the UK tour of “Only Fools and Horses: The Musical and what an absolute joy to behold it was As someone who knew the TV show and had seen bits and bobs but wasn’t an avid viewer I went into this with an air of trepidation that some stuff may go over my head and spoil the viewing experience but boy was I wrong!
Starring the legendary Paul Whitehouse as “Grandad”, Only Fools and Horses: The Musical is a brilliant homage to its forefather, with just the right balance of copying the original and adding its own spin so as not to upset the hardcores, but also not feel like it was a re run on Gold. The set felt like it was ripped straight from the west end, even featuring a certain recognisable three wheeler driving on stage, and the two main locations, The Nags Head and the Trotter family home were the anchors for the various side plots in the show.
Sam Lupton was remarkable as Del Boy. His comedic timing, physical comedy and tone were all exceptional and provided an absolute tour de force of a performance that has to been seen in person to be fully appreciated. Tom Major was good as Rodney, with just the right level of familiarity to the originals yet very much his own seasoning put in there. Paul Whitehouse was great as Grandad, with the clear respect he has for his subject material being on full display, you can really tell just how much this show means to him.
Georgina Hagen was fabulous as Raquel, with velvety vocals to die for. Nicola Munns was brilliant as Marlene/Cassandra, in particular in the role of Marlene with exceptional comedic chops on display. Craig Berry was hilarious as Boycie, with that perfect iconic laugh and just the right air of pompousness. Perhaps my favourite performance in the show however was Lee VG as Trigger. VG had such a brilliant plainness to him that had me rolling around laughing with his classic trigger one liners. The wider cast were all fabulous as well each in their own way, there was not one weak link in this cast and you really could feel the connection between them all when sat in the audience.
The music for the show was just perfect. This show doesn’t pretend to be something that it isn’t and I love that. It is not trying to be Les Miserables with 15 part harmonies and 4 hour ensemble songs. It is a perfect eclectic mix of Chas and Dave, Madness and Me and My Girl all rolled into one little slice of London and it does make me miss my days of living there.
All in all, I could not recommend seeing this show any higher. It is my favourite new show, to me the best show that I have seen in a very long time and I shall be sure to keep an eye for when it is coming back around my way on tour. If I could describe Only Fools and Horses: The Musical in one word it would be… CUSHTEE!