Loserville

Apr 12 2018 | By Sarah Moyes More

★★★☆☆ Geektastic fun

Edinburgh Academy: Wed 11 – Sat 14 April 2018
Review by Sarah Moyes

Grease meets Glee, as the Forth Children’s Theatre show what it’s like to be an American teenager in this fun and energetic performance of Loserville.

Loserville is based on Welcome to Loserville – an album by James Bourne of Busted’s second band, Son on Dork. The show was originally created by Bourne and Elliot Davis for Youth Music Theatre in 2009 before it made its West End run at the Garrick Theatre.

Moray McConnachie and the cast of Loserville. Pic Mark Gorman

Set in 1971 in Loserville, USA, the show tells the tale of a “typical” American high school full of geeks and jocks. Heading up the geeks is a teenager who just happens to be called Michael Dork (clever huh?) who is attempting to send the world’s first ever email as he weaves his way through different school groups, growing up and discovering girls.

Moray McConnachie (Michael Dork) gives a strong performance in the lead role accompanied by his best friend Lucas played by Will Rowse, who is writing a novel which turns out to be an early concept of Star Wars (and suddenly all the Star Wars references make sense).

The pair are thick as thieves until new girl and fellow geek Holly played by Laura Johnston starts dating Michael, despite Lucas being in love with her too.

One of the musical highlights from the first act Michael and Holly’s duet We’re Not Alone is a beautiful moment in the show. It’s a nice break from the more upbeat songs and it really gives McConnachie and Johnston a chance to impress with their vocal talent.

comedy double act

Enda Gormley (Marvin) and Murray Waters (Francis) work in sync with each other as a brilliant comedy double act as they try to win first place at the annual sci-fi competition while delivering some hilarious jokes and one-liners throughout, some well above their years to the shock of the audience.

The Cast of Loserville. Pic Mark Gorman

However, it wouldn’t be a high school musical if there weren’t some popular kids in the class too. School bully and jock Eddie played by Frankie Cusack and his gold-digging girlfriend Leia (or Princess Leia as she’s referred to later on) played by Eilidh West give convincing performances at the school baddies, while bringing some humour to the roles as their superficial personalities shine through.

Musically, this is one catchy song after another with infectious pop-punk anthem Ticket Outta Loserville coming out on top. However, there are a few times when it can be hard to make out the words being sung. It’s not a reflection on the sing ability of the cast, but with fast paced songs and a loud band, it’s difficult to make every word heard.

sparse

The stage setting is simple – some light up shapes on black curtain with a couple of chairs and computers. While it looks really effective on the big musical numbers, the stage looks very sparse at times and could have done with even just a few extra props to help the story along.

Former cast members Alex Gordon (Director), Kirsten Macdonald (Choreographer) and Eilidh Park (Musical Director) make their debut as the show’s production team and they should certainly be congratulated on what is a funny and heart-warming musical that can be enjoyed by the whole family.

Running time – 2 hours (including interval)
Edinburgh Academy, 42 Henderson Row, EH3 5BL
Wednesday 11 – Saturday 14 April 2018
Evenings: 7.30pm; Matinee, Sat: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: https://forthchildrenstheatre.wordpress.com.
Facebook: @ForthChildrensTheatre.
Twitter: @FCTCompany.