REVIEW: Bronco Billy The Musical at Charing Cross Theatre 24 Jan – 7 April 2024

‘a good night out … with oodles of nutty charm’ ★★★ ½

Comedy on stage is hard. It must be. The immediacy of the audience’s response to a joke or a line can make you feel a million dollars - or, if greeted with silence, it has to be just the worst thing. Last year I saw The Accidental Death Of An Anarchist which featured a comic performance of sheer genius by Daniel Rigby. The audience lapped it up and it was all there - brilliantly written lines offered up by a physical and verbal performance of nuance and power - it should win awards.

Of course comedy and comedic turns don’t always get their just rewards - don’t know why? - and it will be interesting to see how Bronco Billy is received as this fun production contains a comic performance of utter genius that should also win awards. We’ll get to that.

Based on a Clint Eastwood film released in 1980 and with a previous theatrical incarnation in Los Angeles 5 years back, Dennis Hackin’s source book has by all accounts been hacked about to come up with a somewhat derivative tale of ‘family’, friendship and fun all tied up in a bizarre but gaudily winning disco-cum-western bow.

The Charing Cross Theatre - increasingly one of London’s most chameleon-esque venues with its ever-changing layout - is beautifully decorated with mirror balls, stars and ‘hot’ lighting which tells us this show is not going for drama but for high camp. There is little depth, little real pathos and the two acts fly along at a lick with a story that offers up a visual feast and regular laughs.

Bronco Billy and his ragtag ‘family’ of performers travel from town to town, city to city across the States with their charming but financially non-viable brand of ‘yee-haw, rootin’-tootin’ cowboy circus - an early doors Greatest Showman if you will but without the opera singer. Money is tight but life is OK until a Manhattan-heiress-on-the-run turns up, can sing a bit, indulges in a bit of romance with a smitten Billy (this happens inexplicably quickly) and then a Cannonball Run-esque rip-roaring chase across the States ensues with baddies in pursuit.

Why Antoinette - the heiress - is on the run is fairly incidental and rather long-winded. Indeed, how the story gets to its marginally bonkers finale in a Hollywood studio should not concern you too much. Despite a myriad of small concerns - would have been a better one act show, some scenes being over-done, perhaps too many characters and for sure too many props - that the show is ultimately a joy is down to some good tunes from Chip Rosenbloom and John Torres (with additional lyrics by Michelle Brourman), some very good laughs and some of the best off-West End casting I’ve seen for a many a year.

As Billy, Tarinn Callendar rocks every outfit, his baritone delivering both tender and upbeat notes with great gusto and style (the charming 'I’m Gonna Be Strong’ is a highlight) and he exudes charisma. He is well matched by Emily Benjamin as the heiress who has great vocal versatility and the two have obvious chemistry. The supporting cast is strong all the way through and whilst characterisation is limited, each performer is given time and space to show what they can do despite this being a collective piece.

The bad guys are all terrific and they are headed up by the great Victoria Hamilton-Barritt who is always worth watching (see Cinderella, The View Upstairs etc) but here delivers a truly wonderful turn as the wicked Constance Lily. Part drag queen, part faded Hollywood star and part Margaret Thatcher, Hamilton-Barritt is mesmeric in whatever she is doing onstage - of course she sings like a dream but the comic timing, relationship with the audience and connection with the rest of the cast is underpinned by delivering some good lines in a great way.

This is a good night out with some smart lines, a hard-working cast, good multi-genre songs and oodles of nutty charm. And that performance from Victoria Hamilton-Barritt is a gem.

Images: The Other Richard

Bronco Billy The Musical at Charing Cross Theatre 24 Jan – 7 April 2024, Directed By Dennis Hackin

Box Office https://charingcrosstheatre.co.uk/theatre/bronco-billy

Reviewed by Paul Maidment