Review - David Essex in All the Fun of the Fair, Wolverhampton
Yes, I know he's been out of style for a long while, but it's hard not to like David Essex. The 64-year-old has lost his locks, but not his looks and his trademark twinkle in the eye still fluttered the hearts of many a '70s teenybopper at the Grand.
All the Fun of the Fair
Wolverhampton Grand Theatre
Review by Keith Harrison
Yes, I know he's been out of style for a long while, but it's hard not to like David Essex. The 64-year-old has lost his locks, but not his looks and his trademark twinkle in the eye still fluttered the hearts of many a '70s teenybopper at the Grand.
All the Fun of the Fair has proved a successful spin of the wheel for the star man's greatest hits, woven into a tale of travelling folk, dodgy accents and, errrr, motorbikes.
His voice, never the strongest but always distinctive, is used sparingly, however, and many of the numbers are sung by the ensemble cast.
Sadly, too many individuals fail to step up to the plate vocally, and let the overall production down at times. The quality of the acting never slacks off though, with Essex oozing presence and seen-it-all-before stagecraft.
David Burrows, suitably slimy as Harvey the spiv, and Barry Bloxham as the villainous Druid are the stand-out performers, while blonde bombshell Tanya Robb manages to make the 1970s fashions look good.
On top of all that, the music has enduring appeal to Essex's devoted fans with set piece finale Silver Dream Racer having a fairly full house creaking to its feet for a standing ovation.
Not quite a rollercoaster, but still a good night out in a roundabout way. All the Fun of the Fair runs until Saturday.
