It seems Stephen Fry rather enjoyed Betty...
I found myself simply blown away by Betty Blue Eyes, a brilliant adaptation of Alan Bennett’s multi-BAFTA winning 1984 film A Private Function.
Building on the best of Bennett but with the addition of dazzling lyrics by Anthony Drewe and fabulously hummable tunes from George Stiles, Betty Blue Eyes delivers as deliciously happy an evening as anyone could dream of.
Continuing the tradition of great theatre directors collaborating on modern British musicals, BBE is directed by Sir Richard Eyre, who should be knighted all over again for best-ever-use-of-a-pig on stage.
That radiant Betty is certainly worth the ticket price alone, but if you add Sarah Lancashire, Reece Shearsmith, Adrian Scarborough, David Bamber, Anne Emery… well.
"...George Stiles and Anthony Drewe's music
thrives on wit and energy...
...a score of proper period tunes
(including an oom-pah-pah number
worthy of Lionel Bart)
that makes the show sing..."
Daily Mail
"...this witty and delightful adaptation of the
1984 film
A Private Function
strikes me as better than the original...
...Having previously written a show about an ugly duckling,
George Stiles (music) and Anthony Drewe (lyrics)
also have no problem
with one about a pig:
after Honk!, you might say, comes Oink..!
...But the success of this show relies on the fact that the songs
grow out of, and are always proportionate to, the situation.
The opening chorus of Fair Shares For All instantly establishes
the fragile optimism of austerity Britain...
...A seductive number, Magic Fingers, is a tribute to Gilbert's
secret erotic power and a sly comment on the sexual frustration
of many women in the 1940s...
...Best of all is the way the hidden aspirations of the Gestapo-like
meat inspector are released in a song in which he reveals himself
as a frustrated Picasso...
...this is a rare show... a genuine "musical comedy"...
Michael Billington The Guardian
"...Composer George Stiles and lyricist Anthony Drewe
have written a series of charming songs,
with nostalgic lilt and literate rhyming that explain the effect
Betty Blue Eyes has on stout-hearted men..."
The Independant Michael Coveney
"...Betty Blue Eyes, which opened to oinks of happiness this week,
is a musical comedy about a pig with eyes described not just as blue.
They are 'cornflower or hyacinth, Wedgwood or azure'...
You’ve never heard a love song with the words 'foetid fungal growth'?
You have now..."
"...George Stiles and Anthony Drewe
have come up with a delightful
period-flavoured score.
It’s constantly evocative of the dance melodies
and novelty numbers of the 1940s
with lyrics that combine
wit and sentiment in exactly
the right proportions..."
Daily Telegraph
“...A smash-hit musical is born.
Witty, rude, lovable, warm, dramatic, hilarious.
You can’t stop laughing...”
*****
The Times
