Set in the post World War Two austerity Britain preparing for a Royal Wedding - no obvious parallel left undrawn - 'Betty Blue Eyes' is an adaptation of the Alan Bennet scripted film 'A Private Function'. It revolves around a chiropodist and his socially climbing wife, a pig called Betty, a group of local dignitaries, a banquet plus the meat inspector who wants to bring them all to book.
The song writing team of George Stiles and Anthony Drewe have marshalled a collection of instantly catchy melodies with a fantastic line in witty and arch lyrics for this comedy. Which includes possibly the best song about foot complaints ever likely to be written although, admittedly, it's probably not up against that much competition.
The hit rate for the songs is astonishingly high. Whether it's in a fantastic belter - 'Nobody' - for Sarah Lancashire, the dizzying mini-farce 'Pig, No Pig', the frankly too hummable for it's own good 'Betty Blue Eyes' or the brilliantly orchestrated extended dance scene 'Lionheart', this is a very strong score. Each song is distinct, adds to character, moves the plot along but never forgets to be melodic and, perhaps most importantly, fun.
And this cast bring out the very best in the material. Sarah Lancashire is fabulous as the socially ambitious Joyce, all straight back and simmering resentment, perfectly partnered with Reece Shearsmith as a delightfully downtrodden - by both wife and society - Gilbert. They have the lightness of touch of experienced comic actors but also make you believe enough in the relationship to make the final walk into the sunset a genuinely heart warming moment.
Set design, direction and choreography all add to the mood, bringing an air of heightened reality to the whole thing. And the animatronic pig is surprisingly awww inducing.
However, with all of these strengths it's a shame there has to be a weakness and it's the book. Scenes which should bounce along never quite come to life; the Northern cadences should have a musicality of they're own but they never quite reach it. When this show sings, it soars but the dialogue is resolutely earth bound. Which, given there's a song every five minutes or so, does make the evening rather uneven.
Overall, Cameron Mackintosh has backed a very strong show for his first foray into the unforgiving world of the original musical for about a decade. This is defiantly old school musical comedy but there's nothing wrong with that.
Bill Count: 4
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