23 Sep 2006
Against expectation, DADDY COOL proved everyone wrong on Thursday and delivered a very enjoyable show. DADDY COOL? It’s the new Boney M Musical and excepting the occasional sticky moment provided by the plot and dialogue, the numbers are good, the band is good, the singing is good and the whole show is a fun night! (More fun, I have to say, than VOYAGE ROUND MY FATHER which opened the same night!)
We start our tech for PROOF on Monday and I realised I haven’t acted on The Old Rep’s stage since 2002 in our production of ROMEO AND JULIET, in which a talented cast was let down by a maverick director I hired who didn’t have a clue. Not a clue! The BSC hasn’t done especially well with Shakespeare, which is all my fault as on both occasions I asked an American to direct it. First Richard Dreyfuss, who could have been wonderful but wasn’t and John Sheehan, who couldn’t have been wonderful under any circumstances. This sounds unfair but no-one involved with the show would disagree, except John. But the buck stops with me and I take full responsibility. Thank goodness I asked John Harrison to direct PROOF – who’s turned in three hits for the company – SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER, SPEED-THE-PLOW and OLEANNA. He’s 82 and has infinite good taste. Let’s hope the public agree!