Bugsy Malone - Desmond Cole (Dandy Dan) and Georgia Pemberton photo by Johan Perrson

Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐Bugsy Malone at Birmingham Rep

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BrumHour saw Bugsy Malone at the invitation of The Rep.

By Dave Massey twitter.com/BrumHour

Review: Bugsy Malone at Birmingham Rep

⭐⭐⭐⭐Brilliant fun!

Directed by Sean Holmes, book by Alan Parker, words and music by Paul Williams

Blousey (Mia Lakha) dreams of being a singer. Bugsy (Gabriel Payne) dreams of Blousey. But Blousey is having none of it. She thinks Bugsy wants Tallulah (Jasmine Sakyiama). Meanwhile, club owner Fat Sam (Albie Snelson) has his own problems as rival Dandy Dan (Desmond Cole) wants to remove him.. permanently.

Bugsy Malone – Mia Lakha (Blousey), Jessica Daugrida (with cap), Kalifa Burton (with Scarf) Gabriel Payne (Bugsy)

Featuring a youth cast with adult supporting performers Bugsy Malone is an absolute gem of a show. Filled with warm gentle humour, lots of great songs and fun characters for many of the young people in the audience this was their first introduction to live theatre and something different to seeing a panto or a “kids show”.

For me, there wasn’t enough mess on the stage. I wanted more splurge, more pie throwing and more foam!

Bugsy Malone – Desmond Cole (Dandy Dan) and Georgia Pemberton photo by Johan Perrson

The young actors are the focus of the show and there are three different performers on this tour for each of the key roles. Yesterday, there was a fight for biggest scene stealer with Cherry Mitra as both Babyface and Lena giving us not one but two great characters, Aidan Oti as the ignored Fizzy and Albie Snelson as Fat Sam all putting up a tough fight for the biggest scene stealers of the evening.

The stage features a straightforward angled staircase and the props lower from the rafters and at one point Albie Snelson has to complete his own scene change which adds to all of the fourth wall breaking and audience interaction.

Bugsy Malone, ensemble and Albie Snelson (Fat Sam) Photo by Johan Persson

Having the band between us and the vocals is always a bit of a risk as the performers have to sing over the band but here the sound is great and the vocals clear.

Brilliant fun, utterly charming with lots of humour Bugsy Malone is at Birmingham Rep until Sunday 14th August. The UK Tour currently continues until 11th February 2023, find out more here: bugsymalonethemusical.com/tour-dates. Discover what is coming up at Birmingham Rep here: birmingham-rep.co.uk/whats-on.

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