Reviewer: Christine Stanton
Book: Rachel Wagstaff
Music, Lyrics & Original Orchestrations: Richard Taylor
Director: Bronagh Lagan
“Bloomin’ Beautiful”
4.5 / 5
Ada Harris lives a simple life, cleaning for a number of the residents on her street – demanding characters that live a life much more extravagantly than Ada. She makes sure she approaches every day with a smile and takes her (sometimes mean-natured) clients in her stride, believing everyone has good in them and worth the kindness she evaporates.
When Ada (Jenna Russell) is cleaning for one of her regulars Mrs Dant (Kelly Price) she spots a gorgeous gown in the closet, a Christian Dior original, which is nothing like anything Ada has ever seen before. She immediately falls in love with the craftmanship and the colours, vowing to do everything it takes to get to Paris and buy one for herself. So, after a life of penny pinching and putting others first, she finally has something to work towards that’s just hers, working every hour under the sun to raise the funds for her dream dress. After working her fingers to the bone for a few more years, she finally manages to make it out to Paris and into the Dior showroom – where although not as glamorous as the normal clientele, allows her kind nature to infectiously rub off on everyone she meets – just like she does back home in Battersea.
Russell is absolutely perfect for this role, embodying the gentle, giving nature of Mrs Harris exquisitely. It was disappointing not to see her in the aforementioned dress as that would have a been a lovely ‘reveal’ moment as part of the finale and she would have looked fabulous in it. Her interactions with Albert (Hal Fowler) are heart-warmingly sweet, showcasing how grief manifests itself not always in a sad way, but also sometimes by remembering the good times shared and the interactions you would have had with the person had they still been alive. Fowler has a powerful singing voice, that is utilised within multiple musical numbers during the show. Aside from Russell, the whole cast play duel characters – initially her neighbours in Battersea, and in the second act, the people she meets in Paris. Each of them do the duality well – Charlotte Kennedy as Pamela in Battersea is an awful, unforgiveable character, yet as Natasha, delightfully sweet, making both characters clearly definable. Nathaniel Campbell (Bob/Andre) and Annie Wensak (Violet/French Char lady) are brilliantly likeable and contribute to the ‘feel good’ atmosphere that the production exudes.
This isn’t a big glitzy musical with an abundance of big band songs and numerous flashy costume changes, instead it takes a traditional approach and executes it perfectly. The storyline is the focus – the feel-good feeling is apparent from the outset from the narrative itself and how the characters have been written. The songs aren’t really standalone numbers, but instead consistently well done and woven into each interaction. There are multiple songs and interactions in act two that are performed in French – which was impressively unique, and didn’t require anyone to be a native speaker to be able to still understand what was going on! The scenery rotates constantly, clearly establishing a variety of locations for the cast to move through, with the flowers and the final scene being gorgeous and tear-inducingly moving.
There is an easy warmth within this show, cozy and comforting to watch the relaxing plot play out. The message of ‘kindness will prevail’ is a simple one that blossoms throughout the production and it’s a bloomin’ beautiful one to take away from the theatre with you.
Runs Until 25 November 2023
RatedReviewed 