The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it. - J M Barrie.
And so we share the re-found diary of Melody Singer as she looks back over a past, which, had life been like the movies would have been full of roses, white picket fences, cosy cottages and a leading man. Inevitably her diary entries are of the more mundane existence of growing up in a council house, gossip with the girls and men who lead her nowhere.
Her dreams are in fact only slightly more ambitious than those of her girlfriends as they compare notes in a sort of Sex and the City for the style-less 70’s. What sets her apart is her love for the musicals and her linking of her daily events to all the glamorous Broadway numbers and the Great American Songbook.
So far, so everyday. But behind the bedroom door Ms Singer is just that. And boy can she sing. The transformation can only be described as a “Susan Boyle moment”. The instant she starts to sing, she becomes a star.
It’s a well conceived show, with the songs stitching together the episodes from her journal and the words of the likes of Ira Gershwin and Cole Porter speaking more eloquently of her life, loves and ambitions than she can ever hope to put on the page.
In the present as she compares her now seemingly naive beliefs to the way her life has worked out there might not be a typical fairy tale ending, but with a song in her heart who knows?
Cheryl Anne Easton puts in an accomplished and captivating performance. While the production would benefit from a little more polish, in particular by having the recorded soundtrack cued from off-stage, if you love musical movies and you have a gap in your diary it’s worth making a (free) entry.
Show Times
7-28 August, 5.30pm
Ticket Prices
Free (donations)