Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
September 16, 2008
Venue: Sunderland Empire
Date Reviewed: 16th September, 2008
The film of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is one of the classic MGM musicals that remains a firm favourite with generation after generation. The Johnny Mercer lyrics and Gene de Paul score won an Oscar and with classics such as Bless Your Beautiful Hide, Goin Courtin , Spring Spring Spring and Wonderful Wonderful Day it is not hard to see why as they are as fresh today as they were when written.
The touring stage version has been around for a number of years and this production had Steven Houghton as the elder brother Adam (played by Howard Keel in the film) and Susan McFadden as the high spirited Milly. Both of these leads play their role perfectly and head a young and energetic cast, who do not put a foot wrong.
The story is based around Adam who with his brothers lives in the Orgeon mountains but on a visit to town, he meets Milly, marries her and take her back home. Milly quickly brings the brothers in to line and prepares them to meet the girls in town. But once the men have met the girls they cannot settle back home anymore. They hatch a plan to kidnap the girls just before winter sets in, leaving them all stranded in the mountains until the spring. By then the girls have fallen in love with the brothers and do not want to return to living in the town. This leads to multiple weddings give us our happy ending.
The key to this musical is not only the score, but the fantastic dance routines and the cast do not let us down, especially with the “Social Dance” in Act One and the Wedding Dance. The young cast are excellent and after a slightly over long first half, the second act literally gallops along.
The sets are functional and reflect the period but it is the dancing and singing that win the day.
This tour is far superior to its predecessor which toured around two years ago and shows how well a classic movie musical can transfer to the stage.
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