Jubilee

The
plot is simple. Four members of a royal family decide they are bored
of being royal and head out to experience something of the real
world. Each of them encounters someone who makes them realise that
there is more to life than stuffy pomp and ceremony.

The Queen (Amy
Cooke-Hodgson) meets her movie hero, ‘Mowgli’, aka actor Charles
Rausmiller (Herman Gambhir). The Prince (Charlie Guest) and
Princess (Alana Asher) meet the celebrity subjects of their
infatuation, starlet Karen O’Kane (Emma Williamson) and
playwright and actor Eric Dare (Jonathan Leinmuller). The King
(Robert Paul) has a chance encounter in a park with socialite Eva
Standing (Kathleen Culler) that leads him to being able to publicly
perform his ‘string trick’ for the first time.

A
large ensemble cast work well together in this surprisingly
large-scale production – the ‘overture’ sequence features seven
couples tap dancing in unison, a feat in itself on such a small
stage. Noteworthy individual performances are Cooke-Hodgson’s
comedic Queen, who is funny without being too pantomime dame-ish,
Gambhir’s nice-but-dim Rausmiller (the skimpiness of his costumes
will be appreciated by many), and Leinmuller’s Dare, a witty
take-off of Noel Coward. There are no real weak links, but Culler
could afford to turn down the shrillness a couple of notches and
still retain the comedy.

There
are some impressive vocal talents on display, although the sound
balance needs some work: Cooke-Hodgson overpowers Paul in their duet
‘Me And Marie’, and the musical accompaniment overpowers Williamson’s
pretty vocals as she performs a full-on brassy burlesque routine to
the show’s best-known tune, ‘Begin The Beguine’.

Jubilee
is a product of its time and as such is rather dated, but this
production embraces that as a source of humour. It’s intended to be
light and frothy rather than deep and meaningful, and as a result is
likely to make you tap your feet and leave the Tabard whistling one
of its tunes.