Review: Seven Brides For Seven Brothers

Once, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers' lyricist Johnny Mercer advised us all to "accentuate the positive". A maxim that the Londonderry Musical Society (LMS) have entirely embraced for director Deigh Reid's production of the classic film-turned-musical.

Positivity bursts out from every soul on Derry-Londonderry's Millennium Forum stage in what turns out to be a fitting and poignant tribute to beloved society legend Nan Hill.

The show, dedicated to her memory, has a welcoming familial air in its tone and cast – her granddaughters Hannah and Holly Deane play a bride and a chorus member respectively. The communal backbone of the LMS has always been strong, and it feels just right that, after the experimental shows of recent years, Reid and the society have settled for something more instantaneous and simple in its spirit-raising, funny bone-tickling frolics.

Seven Brides For Seven Brothers - hereafter Seven Brides - is grand, gospel, epic and ambitious in its design and music, but light-hearted and straightforward in its scripting.

The musical numbers are performed with brio, dedication and command - even those who haven't seen the film will leave the theatre humming at least one or two of them. The sets (one of which is "the biggest they have had thus far", I'm told) and costumes are colourful and inventive. But at its core, Seven Brides is simply a romantic comedy drama with the tone more aligned to comedy than anything else. And as that, it's successful.

As lovers of the film will know, Adam Pontipee (David Keown) journeys to a village in 1850s Oregon to find and ultimately win the heart of Milly (Emer McCaffrey) who has her heart set on a happy marriage. What she's less happy about are his six brothers on the farm - unkempt, unsophisticated and unshaven buffoons who eat like pigs. She will have her work cut out smartening them up Pygmalion-style for the future brides that they will soon hope to win the hearts of. To add to the complications, their dream women also have suitors, and if Milly doesn't approve, how will the townsfolk react?

The pleasure in reaching the seen-from-a-mile off happy ending comes from a fine combination of song, dance and personality as Reid and choreographer Venessa Chapman give the talented cast and chorus lots of licence to roam. David Keown lightly channels the great Howard Keel while sandwiching in a little of his own ham and cheese, and Emer McCaffrey is once again the rock of the LMS musical, adapting the show-stopping liberation of her Sister Act for a more restrained image with maternal instincts and a booming voice.

Among those thriving alongside them are Simon Quigg, singing regally and clowning gamely as Caleb, and Thorin Coffey, who plays Frank like a (thankfully!) toned down Eli Roth. Robert Kelly brings a winning vulnerability to Gideon, his genuine love for his bride-to-be making a man out of him.

The women are no less engaging. The chirpy longings of Áine O'Riordan's Alice add weight to her bond with Gideon, Amy Kilgore pumps Dorcas with sharp limbed feistiness, and Zoe Kyte's Martha and Hannah Deane's Liza are graceful foils to the bumbling duo of Daniel (Eoin Callaghan) and Ephraim (Gregg Parkhill).

To be sure, the light-heartedness of Seven Brides is both a strength and a weakness - the thrust and spectacle is such that you always enjoy the ride but never totally connect with everyone. Nevertheless, with a show as much fun as this, we ought to, as Mr. Mercer said, accentuate the positive. And there are positives aplenty, deservedly paving the way for a standing ovation from a packed Forum at the end.

Simon Fallaha

Seven Brides For Seven Brothers was a production by the Londonderry Musical Society and ran at the Millennium Forum. millenniumforum.co.uk