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**** 4 STARS
Musicals are not everyone’s cup of tea and given free rein picking my own shows for the Fringe I certainly wouldn’t have looked in that section of the festival guide; however, although I may just have got lucky with Have A Nice Life, it’s something I might consider doing in the future. Despite an uncertain start , this musical from Philadelphia is one that I very much enjoyed.
Have A Nice Life focuses on a group therapy session that is thrown into disarray by the arrival of a stranger to the gathering.
At first, the entrance of Amy disrupts the already fragile bonds of the group as jealousy and anger come to the fore. Each established member of the group starts off with a cynical mindset while trying to be as detached from the group as possible – including the group leader whose opinion of his importance unravels as he realises he is as much in need of counselling as those attending his session – with each hoping to find that the others have bigger problems than themselves.
The dialogue seemed stilted at times – my major bugbear with musicals – with some conversations being spoken, some sung and others somewhere in between it meant the character interaction was hard to get into at times; however, each performer excelled when given the stage for their big song and dance routine, rightly collecting the applause of the audience.
With each sung revelation the story takes a new twist and soon there are no clear cut good or bad characters as is first implied, but rather each has good traits and flaws.
The production put on by the Nice People Theatre seemed deserving of a grander location than a small shed at the back of George Square. When the cast gets into full flow for its big numbers, the audience is left with a feeling of joy that helps shake off gloomy moods whether they’re hangover induced or not. A thoroughly enjoyable show, and certainly one to catch whether your a fan of musicals or not. |
