Zipp!

NOTE: The following review dates from February 2003 and this production’s West End season at the Duchess Theatre. For current cast and venue information, see performance listings.

Like Ronseal, Zipp! does “exactly what it says on the tin”, speeding through “100 musicals in 90 minutes” – and delivering tremendous fun in the process.

Taking their lead from the Reduced Shakespeare Company, Gyles Brandreth and his hard-working Pocket Music Theatre troupe – Andrew C Wadsworth, Stuart Barr (doubling on the piano), Amanda Symonds, CJ Johnson and an unnamed but amusingly put-upon stage hand – traverse a century of musical theatre. From Edwardian hit Floradora to Bombay Dreams, from Harold Adamson to Vincent Youmans, the obscure and the obvious are shoehorned in in record time.

The piece claims to appeal to both those who love and loathe musical theatre and, difficult as it may be, I’d say it just about strikes that balance, though slightly tipped towards the former. Surtitles above the stage tick off the relevant shows so musical dunces can keep up while musical Einsteins can still feel smug by rising to the challenge of naming the 40-odd shows inspired by films or the dozen based on Dickens’ novels.

Along the way, there are some very funny set pieces, such as the re-enactment of The Sound of Music, the alternative Sweeney Todd‘s (ie how might the piece have sounded if Lerner and Loewe had adapted the story of the demon barber of Fleet Street before Sondheim), and most especially, the shrine-building to Andrew Lloyd Webber whose career, after a comparatively leisurely run-through involving sock puppets, is reprised in one minute (it could have been done in 45 seconds so they “padded it out with a bit of Puccini”).

While the majority of the evening is spent poking gentle fun at breakneck speed, there are moments when the performers slow down to give full respect to an art form they so clearly adore. The most moving of these is when the lights dim and Symonds breaks into “Send in the Clowns” from A Little Night Music – a song that can weaken even the staunchest musical opponent.

Leading from the front, Brandreth (who has also written and devised Zipp!) doesn’t hesitate in parodying himself as much as any of the musicals on offer and, while he generally hits the right note, his predilection for cross-dressing – showing off a huge gold lamé packet above his fishnet suspenders in a Rocky Horror sequence – is somewhat unsettling.

Still, I enjoyed this “Ryan Air of musical theatre” immensely, and particularly appreciated its no-frills approach. It’s a useful reminder of what West End shows were like before the multi-million pound emphasis on “humming the scenery”. While the car in the real Chitty Chitty Bang Bang may have cost an estimated £7 million, the effect is rendered here for about £17.50 and is just as enchanting.

– Terri Paddock