| Review by Barry Woods, October 2006
Twenty three years on from their slightly dodgy, single foray into the charts, Scottish pop sensations, The Majestics, are mourning the loss of Big Jazza, their charismatic front-man, whose Ford Sierra just collided with a bus shelter via an unwelcome late night kebab. With a Silver Jubilee Tour booked, an album to cut and a TV documentary in the offing, Jazza’s brother, Danny, who has an uncanny likeness to him has just washed up from New York and is ready to take over and save the day.
It was 1987 when John Byrne’s award-winning comedy-drama burst onto the nation’s TV screens, searing itself into a generation’s consciousness in the process. It’s now 2006 and John Byrne’s stage adaptation of the same screenplay is as hilarious, touching and filled with 60s hits as the TV show may have lead you to expect.
I have to be honest here and say that at the grand old age of 30, I’m still a bit too young to remember the TV show with the fondness that my parents do and as such couldn’t really place what all the fuss was about this show. Regardless however of it’s place in the annuls of television history, Tutti Frutti as a stage show works wonderfully in creating the sort of buzz that can only ever really be captured with a mass gathering of Scots determined to have a good time and a good time was definitely had by all.
The cast in more ways than one had very large shoes to fill with roles made famous by Robbie Coltrane (giant shoes I’d imagine) and Emma Thompson (probably very dainty feet but a hugely talented woman). Dawn Steele filled the latter role with a ballsy yet touching performance and Tom Urie’s Danny was filled with humour from start to end. Julie Wilson Nimmo took the role of Janice and gave it a healthy splattering of irony while her sidekick Mr Clackerty, (John Ramage) took the brunt of her temper with comically overstated humility.
The performance itself is quick paced and takes the form of very slickly executed revue show. It’s not clear if the comparison is a deliberate guise to mimic the speedy transitions between scenes in television or the writer’s choice to cram as much of the original 6 hours of material into this 2.5 hour production. It is however pointedly clear that the speedy execution of this production leaves absolutely no room for boredom or distraction.
On Tour:
His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen
21 – 30 September
Kings Theatre, Edinburgh
3-7 October
Kings Theatre, Glasgow
12-21 April 2007
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