MICK & RITA’S SELECTION BOX
Well it’s Christmas so why not head over to Eastbourne’s small but perfectly formed Grove Theatre for an evening of cheesy seasonal fun. Yes Michael & Rita are back with their friends Rebecca and Lavinia to deliver a good old fashioned variety show of gentle humour and song. This is not their first outing together and they bring a sense of joyous bonhomie to the stage once again. Rita is a lady of “a certain age”, a dowager diva with a good voice and a smattering of gently saucy tales to tell. Of course Rita is in fact a man in a frock or should I say a wardrobe of extraordinary sparkling silliness, sequins, feathers, ruffles and wig that look like a large fluffy animal has taken her head as home. Rita’s not afraid to belt out a big number either and ploughs headlong into Barry Is Going To The Prom and later with Impossible Dream, ambitious for sure but she pulls it off, the song not the wig. It sets the tone for the fist half and both Rebecca and Lavinia follow suit with some fine show tunes and comedy numbers, Michael belts out his first number with such force and commitment that his subsequent numbers slightly suffer, but he does a stint of Boy George with conviction and humour despite all that. Rita comes back with a bit of barely chassis or should I say Shirley Bassey and follows that with a Judy Garland medley in yet another weirdly wonderful wig.
In the second half the mood is far more familiar and seasonal, Christmas classics, more jokes, more funny costumes and above all a real sense of fun, and this is what this ensemble is all about, fun, fun and more fun. Yes they can sing, yes they have chosen some great songs, in particular Adelaide’s Lament from Rebecca Bruce and Taylor The Latte Boy from Lavinia Salisbury in which they both display their excellent acting talents, songs like this cannot just be sung, they need a full performance and they both do just that.
If ever you wondered what had happened to variety then it’s alive and kicking over in Eastbourne in the hands of this troupe of passionate performers, and a packed house lapped it up. Good times for audiences of all ages, an they were all there from eighteen to eighty and beyond
Mick & Rita’s Selection Box
Andrew Kay
10 December
Rating: 
