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© Catherine Ashmore
Ooh, the glamour! A trio of crooners called Triple Velvet in snazzy suits and towering platforms; dinner featuring melon boat and a Hawaiian platter; and a backstage area so seedy that wannabe singing star Julie relieves her bursting bladder in her dressing-room corner rather than the ladies'. This is Bunter's Niteclub in Manchester, setting of Victoria Wood's 1978 musical play, dusted off and tweaked for the author's own slight but likable revival.
Wood was 25 and just starting out when she wrote the piece and her inexperience shows. Structured like the talent show it depicts, it's essentially a flimsy comedy sketch sprinkled with songs, as Julie (Leanne Rowe) prepares for her big chance while her dumpy mate Maureen (Suzie Toase) supplies moral support. The numbers include a beguiling soft-shoe routine by Jeffrey Holland's cheerful magician and his stoic, cack-handed assistant (Mark Hadfield), as well as poignant spotlit soul-baring. True to witty form, wordsmith Wood offers some bathetic lines to treasure, which the cast delivers with aplomb; Hadfield, in drag, doubling as the club's formidable manageress is particularly delicious. But dramatic substance is as scarce as the seafood in a Bunter's prawn cocktail.
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