Spend Spend Spend (tour)

During the interval on press night, the theatre critic from a left-leaning daily national asserted that, not only was Spend Spend Spend totally politically incorrect, but it was also a betrayal of the true aspirations of the working class. This may or may not be so, but it is damned good fun and a great night out. Why that is so is, nevertheless, difficult to understand because, although the total package is a winner, the musical is frankly undistinguished in its several parts. It’s a bit like building a car engine from Skoda parts, switching it on and finding it purrs like a Rolls Royce.

The highly subjective account of the life of Viv Nicholson, a poor Yorkshire lass who won a (comparative) fortune on the football pools in the early 1960s, finds Barbara Dickson as the present day, matronly Viv. As commentator on the action, she reviews the life of her younger alter ego (played by Rachel Leskovac) with the wisdom of hindsight, regretting the way in which fame and fortune corrupted and imprisoned her, and then failed to support her through six apparently unhappy marriages. The money wasted, Viv was again reduced to poverty. The real Nicholson, who was in the house on the night, obviously thought the show a hoot and was often heard screeching with laughter.

In truth, Spend has little original to offer. In style, it is of that gritty school of British kitchen sink musicals, characterised by Blood Brothers, whilst the pleasant but hardly memorable music by Steve Brown suggests at varying times, Bacharach, Stephen Schwartz, Sondheim and a number of other lesser musical writers. The piece, which is virtually sung through, offers lyrics by Brown and Justin Green which are bland, obvious and rather rough and ready. That said, there’s an ebullience and enthusiasm both within the show, and in its performance which, judging by its reception, completely wins an audience over.

In no small measure, this is due to a superb performance by Dickson, whose haunting interpretation of even mediocre material is compelling. Likewise, Leskovac is enormously committed and clearly capable of both moving and amusing an audience. She also has a fine voice. In an excellent ensemble Nigel Williams, as Viv’s abusive and manipulative Dad gives a particularly rounded performance. Spend‘s success must also be attributed to Anna Linstrum‘s re-direction of Jeremy Sam‘s original West End production. It is well paced, fluid and does not outstay its welcome.

All in all, Spend Spend Spend is a triumph of performance and production over material. It’s hugely enjoyable. It shouldn’t be. But it is.

– Stephen Gilchrist (reviewed at Bromley’s Churchill Theatre)

To read a review of this musical’s 1999 West End production, click here.