Regent Theatre, Hanley
“Only Fools and Horses The Musical” is a treat for fans of both comedy and the original television series.
The show, playing this week at the Regent, drops in a number of references and teasers for fans, from chandelier jokes to mentions of watches, and hints at the famous falling over-the-counter scene with Del Boy.
It also captures the TV show’s original mix of comedy and pathos, with jokes aplenty from the writers of the book, who include Paul Whitehouse, but also more touching scenes that tug at the heartstrings, notably Boycie and his wife at the fertility clinic and Del Boy and Raquel’s respective secrets coming out.
The cast is excellent. They capture the voices of the original actors really well. Sam Lupton as Del Boy looked and sounded like the original. Tom Major as Rodders was tall and gangly, perhaps not quite so much a lookalike but very much a soundalike – and still not graduated, in his first professional role, so top performance award for that fact alone.
Philip Childs as granddad is the just same as on telly and Lee VG as Trigger pulls off a good impression – Trigger gets some of the best lines, too. But I have to say the standout as soundalike goes to Craig Berry as Boycie, who has it bang on.
Del Boy is not necessary the funniest character in any scene – though of course he has his moments, the humour from Del Boy being his malapropisms and misuse of French, which he mangles to full advantage for this show, au naturelle, mes lapins.
The other characters are there to get the laughs, led by Trigger, but Richard J Hunt, who plays a dating agent and (I think) other characters was very funny, with excellent comic timing.
As far as the female interest goes, Nicola Munns is in a class of her own, as she plays both Marlene (Mrs Boycie) and Cassandra (Rodders’ fiancée), two completely different characters and both delivered with aplomb.
Georgina Hagen as Raquel captures the spirit of the original character, although while many of the male characters have the distinctive tics we all know and love, the women are less idiosyncratic. Each gets to sing a solo.
As well as the famous signature tune (now billed as “Only Fools and Horses Overture”) and “Only Fools and Horses/Hooky Street” there are a couple of cover songs, notably “Holding Back the Years” sung powerfully by Gloria Acquaah-Harrison but I was most delighted to see that Chas Hodges (half of Chas ‘n’ [RIP] Dave) helped co-compose some of the tunes, and the Chas-influenced tunes standout as the best – they’re the ones that involve Cockneys having a knees-up down the boozer – “That’s What I Like”, “Where Have All The Cockneys Gone?” and “Margate” being highlights.
The plot, you ask? It condenses 22 years of “Fools” into one stage show, with Rodders about to get married and Del Boy – sorry, Derek Duval – meeting Raquel. Del also borrows money from the dubious Driscoll Brothers for a sub-plot – Peter Watts, who plays both Danny Driscoll and Mickey Pearce, deserves a nod for his voice, which goes really deep and sounds suitably menacing when he is, well, menacing Del Boy.
It all ends with a rousing sing-song and an appearance from Uncle Albert, who throws in a dubious nautical tale to bore the family rigid.
“Only Fools and Horses The Musical” is at the Regent Theatre until Saturday, with a matinee on Saturday. Tickets from Congleton Information Centre, in the town hall foyer (no booking fee, call 01260 271095) or the box office or 0844 871 7649.
JMC
