Sheffield Lyceum – until 13 July 2019
Reviewed by: Lottie Davis-Browne
2**
Based on the 2006 film of the same name, which became somewhat of a cult movie with its own fan base, the story is based around the Hoover family’s stop-start journey from Albuquerque, New Mexico to California. This itself is a last minute decision following the news that daughter Olive has a second chance at being a final in the Miss Sunshine competition after a finalist was disqualified for using diet pills.
The Hoover’s are a dysfunctional family to say the least, and luck is never usually on their side. Their credit cards are maxed out, bills are unpaid and they’re at the risk of loosing their home. Richard Hoover, the father of the family, has been unemployed for some months but is convinced his Ten Step Programme will get him to where he wants to be in life, son Dwayne has taken a vow of silence and Grandpa Hoover is not exactly what you’d call a role model! Despite all this the family decide to head out on a family road trip with the hopes that at least one Hoover family member will have their dreams come true.
Whilst there’s been some fantastic film-to-stage adaptations that have attracted huge followers (Rock of Ages & Rocky Horror Show to name a couple), sadly this is one show that should have stayed as a film.
The biggest two issues with this adaptation are the musical numbers (William Finn) and the fact that the dark humour which really makes the film something special sadly failed to transfer onto the stage. Whilst the musical numbers are instantly forgettable, dull and all sound flat and monotone, which don’t do the cast any favours (which is a real shame since for a few seconds on one song we get to hear the true beauty of Lucy O’Byrnes’ vocals), the rest of the musical numbers are a one-way ticket to Snoozeville. The stage set – comprising of a raised platform, painted steel and a large road map (which didn’t resemble a road map in the slightest – paper based or sat nav) worked well to an extent, the VW van appearing as a base from the bottom of the map at the start of their road trip, using matching yellow diner style chairs to form the vehicle. I loved the way they’d choreographed different parts of the stop-start journey using the cast, but this was let down by other special effects such as the smoke effect when the clutch cable breaks – where it was clearly visible when someone’s hands poked out from the bottom of the “map” to stick a smoke machine out.
I wish I’d seen the original London cast and can’t understand why they’d changed two lead roles (Grandpa and Sheryl Hoover) when the London cast featured two well-known names in these roles. Whilst I do not feel this was casting issue as such, more a case of talented cast members doing the best they could in an otherwise stale show.
The role of Olive Hoover is shared by three girls as is usually the case when using child actors. Tonight we had Evie Gibson, who oozed confidence even in more uncomfortable scenes. Vocally she was strong although at times it did sound like she was singing through her nose or getting slightly out of breath, but then given the demands of the role and the amount of moves Olive gets to bust, it’s fair to say that despite this Evie was the one thing that stopped us walking out at the interval.
At least the Miss Sunshine contest adds a bit of warmth to this otherwise otherwise cold adaptations. Disappointed is an understatement.