Theatre review: Lucky Stiff

The first show by the Ragtime and Dessa Rose team of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, Lucky Stiff could be a musical version of Weekend at Bernie's - though that film came out a year after this premiered in 1988, for all I know they could both have taken inspiration from Michael Butterworth's 1983 book The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo. Harry Witherspoon (Tom Elliot Reade) is a dull shoe salesman with a wish to lead a more exciting life, but no drive to actually do anything about it. But opportunity falls into his lap when a long-lost American uncle dies, leaving his only living relative $6 million. Obviously there's a catch: Tony's (Ian McCurrach) wealth came late in life, and before he died he'd booked a holiday of a lifetime to take advantage of it. He doesn't see why dying should mean he has to cancel, so in order to get the money Harry has to take Tony's stuffed corpse around Monte Carlo in a wheelchair, sticking to a strict itinerary.

Theatre review: Through the Mill

Southwark Playhouse have developed a bit of a line in musicals with a big gay following in recent years, and now this theme gets a new twist at they put three Judy Garlands on stage at the same time. Ray Rackham's Through the Mill has three periods in the star's life overlap, the common thread being that each time she's trying to launch her career, once from nothing, and then with two different comeback attempts. Young Judy (Lucy Penrose, the most uncannily like the real Garland of the three,) is discovered by junior MGM producer Roger Edens (Tom Elliot Reade,) who convinces studio boss Louis B Mayer (Dot Cotton Don Cotter) to give her a chance. Mayer can't deny the power of her voice but doesn't really warm to her, and makes sure to leave notes around the studio where she can find them, telling the catering staff not to feed her because she's too fat for movies.