Everybody Loves Lucy

On the day I saw the show, Francine Cain had taken over from Elise McCann in Ms McCann’s tribute to the woman who embodied whacky, Lucille Ball. I’m pleased to report Ms Cain, a Rob Guest Endowment winner whose roles include Frenchy in Grease, is every bit as fabulous.

As a team, Ms Cain and Richard Carroll as Desi took a little time to gel timing wise but they soon snapped into rhythm. It’s good and quite rare to hear accents done so well—Desi’s Havana and Lucille’s New York accents are flawless. The music, the dance, the voices, and the pace (after that initial glitch) are first rate. But apart from the talent on display, there’s a complex story told here about what it was like to be a woman in the 1950s and how through sheer guts Ball transcended that and in doing so perhaps helped show a generation of post-war housewives that they could aspire to more than kitchen and childbearing. There’s almost a Truman Show feel to the way Lucille’s personal life became entwined with that of her character. We see the family straining under the pressure of having to live up to their fictional selves, and feel moved when the marriage almost inevitably falls apart.

This is the story not of the television character Lucy, but of Lucille herself. The physical comedy, trademark red hair and lethal wit all feature, but more than this, McCann as the writer shows her admiration for Lucille Ball, the actress and producer. As such, there’s less Lucy-style slapstick than you might expect. To be honest, I think that humour has dated: the trademark “wahh”, the ruthless pillorying of Desi’s accent, and heaven forbid, Desi spanking Lucy, would not go down so well with a modern crowd. On the one or two occasions the jokes did fall with a splat, and I felt it was because they were no longer fresh (or possibly the aforementioned early timing issue). In place of Ball’s comedic material is modern gentle irony that fills the gap beautifully.

I’m just old enough to have caught the repeats of Here’s Lucy, and loved this nostalgic trip. A perfect choice for The Q's weekday matinee sessions, it’s one for the fans, but will also be enjoyed by anybody who loves good musical theatre.

Cathy Bannister.