Lucky Stiff

Synopsis

Harry Witherspoon, an unassuming English shoe salesman, lives an uneventful life in East Grinstead, England. His life takes a dramatic turn when he learns that his uncle Anthony, a casino manager from Atlantic City, has been killed by his visually-challenged lover Rita. Harry learns that he stands to inherit $6 million dollars from his uncle - but only if he agrees to take his Uncle’s corpse on a trip to Monte Carlo. Otherwise, the money will all go to his uncle’s favourite charity, the Universal Dog Home of Brooklyn. In a quest to gain his uncle’s inheritance, Harry sets out to fulfil uncle Anthony’s dying wish. However, in Monte Carlo, he meets a host of quirky characters who are also in hot pursuit of his uncle’s money…

Our Review:

10 February 2012

The show that launched the careers of song-writing musical team Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (who went on to write hits such as Ragtime), Lucky Stiff is a manic, madcap, slapstick number with zero plot realism but full marks for entertainment value.

Loosely based on the 1935 film, The Man Who Broke The Bank At Monte Carlo, Lucky Stiff brings together Americans, British, and a a few fake Italians, French and Arabs, in a game of mistaken identity, slamming doors and gun chases, all laced with high energy songs.

Seemingly dull English shoe salesman Harry Witherspoon’s humdrum life capsizes when a telegram (a rare occurrence in East Grinstead) informs him that an Atlantic City casino-owning uncle he has never met has been shot, and bequeathed him six million dollars. The catch is, to claim the fortune, Harry must spend a week carting his uncle’s embalmed corpse in a wheelchair around the delights of Monte Carlo, to fulfil t...

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Latest User Review

Dave Griffin - 22 February 2012:

The whole cast played, to a modest matinee audience, as if it was their opening night.Well done....

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