Rock Follies at Minerva Theatre, Chichester: "Work of the highest calibre" | Review

For contractual reasons, two original TV series have never been repeated, so its appearance at Chichester’s Minerva theatre this Summer, adapted into a musical, is a thing of wonder.

This reworking, by Chloe Moss, tells the story of the rise and fall of a three-piece all-female rock-band, The Little Ladies. It wanders from the original in places, but the songs – by Howard Schuman and Andy MacKay - have been cleverly woven into the narrative in a different way to the original. Often, they’re sung by different characters, but they are still powerful, often anthemic and given here by an outstanding cast. It must be pointed out that the language is somewhat fruitier than allowed by ITV in 1976.

The Little Ladies here are Carly Bawden as Anna, Angela Marie Hurst as Dee and Zizi Strallen as Q. I’m finding it hard to describe their performances, particularly their vocal performances, without cascading superlatives – so here goes.

Bawden’s performance is beautifully fragile. Her Anna treads the thin line between educated middle-class outsider to substance-dependent lost soul with assurance and her vocal-control is just top-notch. Strallen’s upper-class blue-film star is warm and funny and beautifully timed and her rather astonishing vocal-range is used to its full effect. In the scene where she tells her conniving lover exactly what she feels his next step should be, she practically got a standing ovation; spot-on delivery. As Dee, on whom the majority of the action focusses, Hurst is firing on all cylinders. Her vocals, too, are soul-satisfying and her performance both fiery and vulnerable.

And when the three of them belt out those wonderful songs together…

Assuming she’s not originally from the north-east, Philippa Stefani, as interloper Roxy, deserves full marks for tackling the part with a Geordie accent – generally considered one of the most difficult for non-Geordies. She pulls that off with apparent ease and her vocals blend with the other three superbly.

Tamsin Carroll plays a complete blinder, here, demonstrating her remarkable ability in playing both the wonderful Gloria and the equally detestable Kitty. Kitty, it is, who gets the song The Things You Have To Do – in the original series a solo for Dee – and Carroll absolutely makes it her own; it works just as well for Kitty as it does for Dee.

There is also lovely work from Samuel Barnett as the well-meaning but ultimately weak Harry.

If one thing jarred it was the inclusion of an ensemble in some of the numbers that just didn’t need them. That’s no criticism of the performers - their vocals are dynamic and powerful – it just sometimes seems as if they’re a “We’ve-Got-Them-Let’s-Use-Them” addendum in places.

Praise must also be given to the scene-shifters (often the cast themselves) who move easily about the stage without bumping into one another in some of the most complexly-choreographed scene-changes I’ve ever scene and also a huge appreciation must go to the people in charge of quick-changes and wig-changes. Their lives must be some kind of hell – particularly in Act 2!

It’s old and new; it’s forward-thinking and nostalgic – and best of all is that it will appeal to newcomers with no experience of the original as well as the Faithful, returning to it after 46 years of separation.

This is work of the highest calibre.

Until August 26.