After immense success with Brick Up The Mersey Tunnels and Lost Soul, I’m sorry to report that the Royal Court’s third musical offering, Good Golly Miss Molly with Eurovision songstress Sonia is considerably weaker. It never gels and it is little more than a parade of one-line jokes, sketches and songs, some of which work and some don’t. There’s plenty to be said on the positive side, but there are major faults.

The most important flaw is the lack of a coherent plot. The story centres on a council meeting as to whether or not to demolish a residential street for development. The debate takes place off-stage and there is no tension generated over the result. I thought that Molly Eldon (Sonia) had relayed the decision some ten minutes before Cllr Eddie Clark (Roy Brandon) actually did, but maybe I’d just lost attention. Because Good Golly Miss Molly is set, inexplicably, in 1985, there are several comments about Militant councillors but it was hard to determine what point the author and director Bob Eaton was making. It wasn’t helped by one of the leading actors, Grandad (Carl Chase) being badly miked: he came through loud enough but it was hard to distinguish what he was saying. Also, the gay jokes were embarrassing, but then, this was supposed to be 1985.

The audience was laughing at things I didn’t find funny at all and, in some instances, I felt that they must be in-jokes. Was it a party of councillors who were laughing so loudly at Roy Brandon and was it because he was impersonating a particular politician? He can be a very funny actor but it was jokes-by-rote here.

Little Richard’s 1958 recording of Good Golly Miss Molly is the most energetic and life-affirming record of all-time, but sadly the band didn’t possess its drive. The actor/ musicians including Davy Edge and Andrew Schofield are certainly good enough and the fault was in the sound mix. Sonia’s Dancing In The Street lacked the bulldozing force of the Tamla-Motown original.

For once, plot and music worked excellently together in the production of Dolly Parton’s 9 To 5. Of the other performances, I would highlight Andrew Schofield’s dramatic arrangement of We Gotta Get Out Of This Place and the way Davy Edge gets electrocuted at the end of Shakin’ All Over, although that would have worked better if we hadn’t been told it was going to happen. Sonia’s melancholy Soldier Boy: and Eithne Browne’s She’s A Rebel are enjoyable, but these likable performances don’t do justice to such great songs.

I must refer an odd comment in the programme. The theatre’s MD, Kevin Fearon, refers to the theatre’s 70th birthday in 2008 and adds, “Please try not to be distracted by any other events that may also be happening in this year. Our birthday is the big one.” This could be a joke but it suggests that Phil Redmond has a way to go before all his team is pulling together.

Spencer Leigh

BBC Liverpool - October 9th 2007