Takeaway

Synopsis

Eddie is a youthful dreamer and wannabe ladies' man who works day and night in his father's Chinese take-away. In fact, he's never happier than when he wanders into daydreams of escaping the everyday and being like his idol Tom Jones. But with two girlfriends, a full-time job, and a whole host of other problems, will he ever achieve his dream?

Our Review:

Michael Coveney - 20 June 2011

Billed as the first British Chinese musical, Takeaway by Robert Lee (book and lyrics) and Leon Ko (music), is a disappointing musical about British-born Chinese Eddie (Stephen Hoo) finding his inner Tom Jones, then finding his own voice and coming out as bisexual.

Eddie works in his father’s takeaway restaurant on the Stratford High Road, but he gets dragged along to a pub talent contest by the Asian delivery girl, Dillon (Natasha Jayetilike), snared in his den by rangy guitarist Reese (Marcus Elland) and embroiled in rows with his dad (Ozzie Yue) over his education, faking a college place at Oxford.

As a showcase for the long-running musical theatre project at Stratford, you can applaud the ambition to pick up on the East London musicals of Lionel Bart and Ken Hill at this address. But a cast of eight, working hard in character and ensemble alike, cannot make the score and the songs seem anything but ordinary and inert, as we...

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