Half A Sixpence

Half A Sixpence is a gem of a touring show that allows Gary Wilmot to demonstrate he is still one of Britain’s best all round stage performers.

Best remembered as a hit musical film, Half A Sixpence is a feel good family show. Telling the story of Arthur Kipps, who as a child cuts a sixpence in half and gives one piece to his childhood sweetheart Ann before they are separated. Years later Ann (Claire Marlow) traces Arthur to Folkstone where she still expects to be “his girl”. Unfortunately when he inherits a large sum of money, Arthur starts to mix with society people who just want to change him and he becomes engaged to Helen Walsingham (Zara Plessard).

But as in all good stories he realises the error of his ways before it is too late and marries his one true love Ann. But she cannot adjust to having money and does not want the eleven bedroom house Arthur is building for them. So when they find out Arthurs financial adviser has disappeared along with his money, they realise they still have each other and that is what counts, letting true love conquer all.

The cast of fifteen work very hard and Chris Crosby , who was a finalist in the TV show Any Dream Will Do to find the new “Joseph” is excellent as Pearce and as understudy to Gary Wilmot I would welcome the opportunity to see him play the main role, as I feel he could handle it very well.

However this is Wilmots show and on the very stage where Tommy Steele made his name (who will always be linked with this musical because of the film version and where I have seen Steele sing the hits from the show several times during his “An evening with Tommy Steele” tours), he makes the role his own. It is no easy task getting you to erase the memory of another performer but Wilmot does it, as he grabs this role by the scruff of the neck. The role of Kipps allows him to move from being the storyteller (talking directly to the audience), to slapstick comedy with ease but  it is when he sings, alone on stage, “What Should I Feel”   that he stops the show.

With the musical first being presented on stage in 1963, then made in to the hit film version there is only one problem with this new tour. I had to spend some time explaining to my daughter (aged eight) what a sixpence was and that will no doubt be a conversation countless people will be having during this tour.

While the score has not only the hit title song “Half A Sixpence”, it also contains “Flash, Bang,Wallop!” and “If The Rains Got To Fall”  

Half A Sixpence is a magical show for all the family and a chance to catch one of our best leading stage performers , Gary Wilmot, in a role he is firmly making his own.     

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