Nicola Azzopardi, Joseph Zammit (left) and Justin Mamo form part of the motely cast of characters in The Great Big Radio Show. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

Theatre
The Great Big Radio Show!
Manoel Theatre

Philip Glassborow’s musical comedy The Great Big Radio Show! is, in his words, a “love letter to the 1930s” and a means of sending up everything that could possibly go wrong during live radio broadcasting, both on and off air.

MADC’s production of Glassborow’s piece, for which he wrote music, lyrics and book, with additional material by Nick McIvor, and is currently running at the Manoel Theatre, was a slick, well-crafted version, which suffered from a slow first act but picked up the pace in the second act and ended on a high note.

With dance arrangements by David Rhind-Tutt and Geoff Thomas, musical accompaniment by pianist Geoffrey Thomas, under the direction of Polly March, the MADC opened their season at the Manoel Theatre with a tongue-in-cheek period piece which played on the tropes so commonly associated with the 1930s and used them both humorously and retrospectively, making for a light, fun and enjoyable piece of fabricated nostalgia.

The motely cast of characters of stereotypes of 1930s Americana ranged from the efficient and cynical production assistant Myrtle Gray (Katherine Brown) to the softie mobsters Two-Gun Shapiro (Luke Saydon) and Big Louie (Alexander Gatesy Lewis); and also featured the pretty ingénue lead Freckles Murray (Nicola Azzopardi) and the Eastern European expats: rich, quirky scientist-entrepreneur Alfred Zannenberg (Michael Mangion) and the talented and mysterious singer Olga Schadenfreude (Katja Brauneis).

The Great Big Radio Show! presents pleasant, uninvolving comedy, combining nostalgia with a feel-good factor

Brown gave a particularly good interpretation as Mrytle Gray, the one who really runs the show at the National Broadcasting System of America (NBS), in spite of chief producer Bernie Bernstein’s (Alan Montanaro) seemingly hawk-like control of NBS’ Great Big Radio Show, a variety show sponsored by Prof Zannenberg’s miracle health cure (read disgusting), Nourishvite.

Mayhem ensues after the show’s lead singer for the evening, Gloria Pilbeam, is a no-show and host Blue Woodward (Joseph Zammit) together with Bernie, Myrtle and teen show regulars Jerry Palmer (Justin Mamo) and Polly Appletree (Mariele Zammit) fall over themselves trying to solve the problem when Prof. Zannenberg himself drops by on a surprise visit.

With violinist and singer Freckles on the run from the Mob, after having accidentally switched her violin case with theirs (containing a gun), vocally impaired porter/bellhop at NBS, Stanley (Andre Mangion), helps Freckles get a job at the cafeteria, where she is discovered by Blue and invited to sing on the show. More wackiness ensues, with chases, gun touting, cheesy jokes and growing romantic plot twists.

Zammit was as always, a great choice for the part – his character, Blue Woodward, is renowned for his vocal skills and hosting abilities and these were present in abundance.

I was pleased to note that newcomer Azzopardi, whose good vocals and spot-on characterisation were evident, made for a welcome companion to Blue and her numbers with him and the ensemble, as well as her solo, were most enjoyable.

Admittedly, I am not a huge fan of twangy American accents and, as far as the general casting went, these occasionally grinded on my ears but were in keeping with the 1930s theme.

Montanaro’s typically solid Bernie complimented Brown’s somewhat stronger Myrtle and supported her role more than vice versa. Two other stand-out characters were Gatesy Lewis’s and Saydon’s mobsters, whose nature as a duo act meant that the actors played well off each other, coming across as goofily likeable rather than fearsome.

Their performance with Brauneis’s Olga was good fun to watch – in all its tap-dancing, choral harmonic glory.

Mamo and Zammit’s secondary characters, Jerry and Polly made for good supporting figures and added to the comic effect which was mastered by Mangion’s zany Prof. Zannenberg.

The Great Big Radio Show! presents pleasant, uninvolving comedy, combining nostalgia with a feel-good factor, pandering to audience expectations in the right way.

• The performance is being staged again at the Manoel on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 8pm.