Kathy Brown in The Great Big Radio Show!

Billing itself as an affectionate pastiche of the typical 1930s musical comedy, The Great Big Radio Show!, now in its second weekend of its run at the Manoel Theatre, is hardly the most ambitious of musicals.

Indeed, it is the fact that Polly March, the director, was part of the original cast of the musical years ago, that explains why this musical (penned in the 1980s, referencing the 1930s and largely off the radar ever since) has been given a run at the Manoel in 2014 Malta.

The lighthearted musical is set behind the microphones of The Great Big Radio Show, the Saturday night prime time live broadcast on the National Broadcasting System in the 1930s.

There is a problem, however: the show’s star, Gloria Pilbeam, is nowhere to be found and tonight, of all nights, the show’s sponsor (played by Michael Mangion) wanted to have a look behind the scenes. Add to this a talented, jobless Irish singer hounded by gangsters, who fortuitously turns up to the building and the scene is set for a good carryon.

The set immediately provided the right visual cue

The set immediately provided the right setting and visual cues for the play and the inclusion of old-style broadcast microphones was the cherry on an already convincing cake.

Nostalgia has its pitfalls, however. Polly Appletree’s character, who effectively came across as a bimbo (as portrayed by Mariele Zammit, one of the better singers on the night), squarely jars with contemporary sensibilities.

Some of Philip Glassborrow’s musical numbers (such as Suddenly I’m Singing) are memorable, but the extended tap dancing interludes (which weren’t properly mic’d) in a good number of songs dragged the energy of the show down. For some reason – possibly due to audio issues or a mismatch between singer’s ranges and the musical numbers – the singing was a mixed bag.

Kathy Brown, who was one of the more convincing actors on stage, handled her parts very well, while Joseph Zammit, also performed well overall.

It being a play set in America, American accents were de rigeur. Alan Montanaro perhaps gets the prize for the most confused accent of the night, oscillating between semi-American, semi-posh to quasi-dame, while the most convincing performances in this regard were courtesy of Alexander Gatesy Lewis and Justin Mamo.

Mangion, who played the show’s sponsor, did not have to do an American accent and so was fine, carrying off his part gracefully. Although pastiched and implausible in equal measures, the show’s many plotlines kept the pace swift and made The Great Big Radio Show! a breeze to watch.

However, I suspect a more ironic rendition of this work, keeping in mind the pastiche would have suited it better.