It's a week of exclamation marks in theatre and I wonder if the creators of the latest musical parody to hit the stage are unaware of musical theatre history, or just deliberately flying in the face of it: Because famously
Oliver Exclamation Mark was an enduring hit, but when Lionel Bart followed it up with
Twang Exclamation Mark Exclamation Mark that went so badly that, to my knowledge, nobody's ever even been allowed to revive it even as a curiosity. So with
Kathy & Stella Solve a Murder Exclamation Mark opening in the West End, are Brandon Lambert (music and lyrics) and Martin Landry (book) setting themselves up to be the catastrophic flipside at Southwark Playhouse with
Fun at the Beach Romp-Bomp-a-Lomp Exclamation Mark Exclamation Mark? Well... a bit.
