Bugsy Malone at Chichester Festival Theatre reviewed: 'Worth seeing for the ensemble-numbers alone'

Now, I’m of the generation that first welcomed the Alan Parker original and have held it dear for a long time. It was with great hope and joy that I headed to Chichester for this.

And was I impressed? Well, yes and no.

The ensemble work here is, frankly, astonishingly good. The cast are, for the most part, older than the film-cast were – programme biogs show training at London colleges, giving an upper age limit of, at the least, 19 or 20 and, I suspect, older. The vocal harmonies are sharp and distinguishable (there is one glorious female voice in there; sadly, because of the sound-mix, it was impossible to tell which actress it came from!); the excellent choreography is stunningly executed; their performances are wonderful.

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Less so the younger principal actors. The press-night cast had some poor diction – a lot of plot-laying stuff was lost. Some solo singing was drowned by the band (a criticism of the technical side and not of the performers). Gabriel Payne buzzes as Bugsy and sings and dances wonderfully as does Mia Lakha as Blousey, probably the best of the younger cast performances.

The part of Tallulah is problematic in light of 21st century attitudes. The film Tallulah is a sexually suggestive, aggressive, perhaps predatory, woman who knows what she wants and how to get it. A child portraying that these days is just not cricket and – as a result – the part doesn’t really work. That said, Jasmine Sakyiama takes it and runs. Good vocals from Sakyiama, too.

Sadly, because only the principal characters are named in the programme, I can’t identify the actor who gave, to my eyes, the finest performance of the evening – so if you read this, Knuckles, pat yourself on the back. It’s stand-out stuff from you.

Some odd directorial choices – having Bugsy face front while having a conversation with a man on a staircase behind him, for instance – detract.

But this is worth seeing for the ensemble-numbers alone and the superbly-executed fight scene. Good stuff.

Until Sunday.