Adam McCoy is already a hugely popular performer and acting tutor here in Liverpool, and with his professional writing debut Take Me Home County Road he shows that his talents appear to have few bounds. The show treads a line somewhere between being a play with music and a jukebox musical, and it certainly strikes the right chord with its audience, creating a great atmosphere and getting everyone on their feet singing and dancing in its joyous closing medley.
Firstly, for readers outside of Liverpool, it should be explained that County Road is a well known thoroughfare at the heart of the Liverpool district of Walton, and as Walton actually is the place where I was born I have to own up to a certain sense of ownership, because this really does take me home. West Virginia it isn’t, but there is a community here that is celebrated in McCoy’s heartfelt saga of family, friendship and the fulfilment of dreams. An opening animated sequence projected onto a front cloth zooms in and lands us right in the street, and straight into the opening number ‘Two Doors Down’.
The story is told by a tight-knit cast of five, each of whom are well known for their musical talents as well as their ability to play comedy roles to perfection. It all revolves around Shelly, played by Helen Carter (who wowed audiences last year with a pitch-perfect revival of Shirley Valentine). After the opener, we quickly learn that a previously long and happy marriage to Mick (Lenny Wood) is treading water to the point of stagnation, and when it becomes clear he has forgotten their anniversary we receive the cue for Carter’s first big solo, ‘Crazy’ with which she sets a high bar for what is to follow.
In short order we meet neighbours Anthony, played by McCoy himself, and Margy (the inimitable and hilarious Keddy Sutton) and then Shelly’s mum Joan, played by Eithne Browne, who is soon to have her own solo slot in ‘Stand By Your Man’. Anthony, an erstwhile barman who has recently taken up performing as a drag artist, persuades the disheartened Shelly that she should audition for a new TV talent show, called The Next Big Thing, and the stage is set for her to reinvent herself and inject some much needed confidence back into her life.
McCoy neatly weaves sub-plots into the fabric of the narrative, including what appear to be extramarital shenanigans from Mick, a new direction in life for Anthony, and Margy’s hapless attempts to reboot her own love life through online dating. His writing makes maximum mileage of the comedic talents of the cast as well as their vocal abilities. Browne and Sutton know how to use the subtlest of gestures to get the audience laughing, and McCoy himself has immense charm and a keen nose for gentle humour too. It is interesting that Lenny Wood, known especially for his comedy work, is given a role that almost plays against type, and this somehow makes his heart-tugging part of the storyline all the more effective as he almost entirely plays it straight. Even his big solo number, when it comes, has real poignancy.
The piece is full of songs that form both a country music playlist and a sturdy backbone for the storytelling, which is of course a natural element of the genre. The arrangements under the musical direction of James Breckon have a tremendously authentic feel, and Emma Bird directs the action with near-perfect pacing and a lovely blend of charm and laughter.
By the time we arrive at the heartwarming denouement and head towards the title song (an easy bit of local humour achieved by dropping one single ‘R’ from ‘Take me Home Country Road’) it is clear that this is an instant hit with the audience, and it is easily one of the best new works to grace this stage in quite some time. Whilst its cast of Royal Court favourite faces and a peppering of local references are no doubt a factor in winning the audience over, the real X Factor here is the combination of McCoy’s tight and witty script, a collection of exquisite performances that show real stage chemistry, and a timeless and recognisable storyline that resonates with everyone.
Star Rating: Five stars
Production pictures by AB Photography
Eithne Browne, Keddy Sutton, Helen Carter and Adam McCoy 
Helen Carter
This review was originally written for and published by Musical Theatre Review
Comments
Post a Comment