He’s falling for her every day—she’s forgetting him every night.
50 First Dates was the ultimate 2004 rom-com starring Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. It tells the story of Lucy Whitmore, an art teacher who suffered brain damage and now wakes up every morning, thinking it is the day before her birthday (a bit like Groundhog Day).
Now a musical, 50 First Dates has opened at The Other Palace in London and I went along to check it out.
Lucy’s family and local community play along, going through the same motions every day so as not to upset her with the truth. This is all fine until Henry Roth stops off in town and falls in love with Lucy, over and over again until he hatches a plan to remind her who she is when she wakes up each morning.
50 First Dates the Musical is a show of two halves. The first part feels unimaginative and dull, with so many props used it made me dizzy. The second half gets better. The songs improve and it becomes quite cute and endearing to watch.
But what isn’t great is the story. It may have worked on screen twenty years ago but now just feels a little ridiculous. We are expected to believe that every morning, this woman gets the shock of her life, finding out she is living the same day over and over and yet after watching some messages from friends and family on an ipad (left at the end of her bed), she is suddenly able to carry on with her life (even, at the end, having a baby).
The huge cast of almost twenty aren’t at fault here. Spearheaded by Georgina Castle, who sings the shit out of the score as Lucy and Josh St. Clair as the loveable Henry Roth.
Chad Saint Louis brings bundles of fun to the character of Sandy, the diner worker who dreams of working at Disney World and Charlie Toland plays the overprotective brother Doug with a loveable twinkle in his eye.
Other members of the cast include Georgia Arron (Mean Girls) as Sharon, Aizaac Aruna (Stardust) as Miles/Ensemble, Zoë Ann Bown (The Sound Of Music) as Miriam, Emily Olive Boyd (Les Misérables) as Fran, Greg Stylianou Burns (The Lightning Thief) as Ensemble, Cole Dunn (Kinky Boots) as Swing, Samuelle Durojaiye (Jesus Christ Superstar) as Swing, Paul Kemble (Hello, Dolly!) as Swing, John Marquez (The Birthday Party) as Marlin Whitmore, Natasha O’Brien (Mamma Mia) as Delilah, Aiesha Naomi Pease (Wicked) as Ukulele Sue, David Pendlebury (The Phantom Of The Opera) as Sid, Martha Pothen (The Frogs) as Cora, Ricky Rojas (Moulin Rouge!) as Marco, Samantha Thomas (Les Misérables) as Swing.
50 First Dates: The Musical probably won’t win any awards but the second half did win me over and by the end I was rooting for them to succeed (despite the ridiculousness of the story).
★★★
West End Wilma
About the cast of 50 First Dates the Musical
GEORGIA ARRON (SHARON/ENSEMBLE/COVER LUCY)
Theatre credits include: Mean Girls (Savoy) and Billy Elliot (Victoria Palace).
AIZAAC ARUNA (MILES/ENSEMBLE)
Theatre credits include: Stardust (Belgrade); Beauty And The Beast (Disney Dream); This Was a Man (Leicester Square); Cold Chips (Theatre N16); The Female Gaze (Cockpit); Silent Running (Stockwell Playhouse); Cymbeline (The London); Colour of Lamps (Arcola) and Making Monsters (King’s Head).
ZOË ANN BOWN (MIRIAM/ENSEMBLE)
Theatre credits include: The Sound Of Music (UK & Ireland Tours); Funny Girl (UK & Ireland Tour); Call Me Madam (Upstairs at the Gatehouse); The Importance Of Being Earnest (English Theatre of Frankfurt); La Cage Aux Folles (Playhouse); How To Build A Better Tulip (Tabard); Corpse!, Alan Ayckbourn’s Roleplay (English Theatre of Hamburg); My Fair Lady (Danish Tour); The Burglar’s Opera, Carousel, The Mating Game (UK Tours); Do I Hear A Waltz? (Landor); The Phantom Of The Opera (His Majesty’s/Manchester Opera House/Stadsschouwburg Antwerp); Into The Woods (Byre, St Andrews); Cinderella (Northcott, Exeter); The Sound Of Music (Kilworth House/Larnaca International Festival, Cyprus/Connaught, Worthing), I’d Rather Be Right (Fortune); Ridgeway’s Late Joys (Players’ Theatre); Glamorous Nights: A Tribute To Ivor Novello (Prince Regent, Farnborough); Dick Whittington (Playhouse, Weston-Super-Mare); Daisy Pulls It Off, Orange Nell (The Characters’ Company); The King And I (Sadler’s Wells & UK Tour); Oklahoma! (Cambridge Arts); Brigadoon (Victoria Palace); The Pirates of Penzance (Manchester Opera House/Theatre Royal, Plymouth); Annie (Connaught, Worthing); The Mastersingers of Nuremberg (English National Opera) and Superted (Theatr Clwyd & UK Tour).
EMILY OLIVE BOYD (FRAN/ENSEMBLE)
Theatre credits include: Les Misérables (Sondheim/UK Tour); We Will Rock You (UK Tour); Wicked (UK & International Tour); The Commitments (Palace) and Dogfight (Southwark Playhouse).
GREG STYLIANOU BURNS (ENSEMBLE/COVER HENRY)
Theatre credits include: The Lightning Thief (The Other Palace); Something Rotten! (English Theatre Frankfurt); The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde (National Theatre of Scotland/Sky Arts); Tick, Tick…Boom! (Etcetera); Orpheus Descending (Stockwell Playhouse); Legally Blonde (Kilworth House); Carrie (Southwark Playhouse); Assassins (Menier Chocolate Factory) and Wicked (Apollo Victoria).
GEORGINA CASTLE (LUCY)
Theatre credits include: Mean Girls, 9-5: The Musical (Savoy); Elf the Musical, Dirty Dancing (Dominion); Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella (Gillian Lynne); Millennials, Twist and Turn (The Other Palace); MAMMA MIA! (Novello) and Antigone (Belsize Park Arts Festival).
COLE DUNN (SWING)
Theatre credits include: Kinky Boots (UK & Ireland Tour); The Wizard of Oz (Gillian Lynne/UK & Ireland Tour); Starlight Express (Bochum, Germany); Sleeping Beauty (Bear in the Air, also choreographer); Beauty & The Beast (Stageworks Worldwide); Cinderella (Crossroads/One From The Heart) and Aria Entertainment Concert (Page To Stage Productions).
SAMUELLE DUROJAIYE (SWING)
Theatre credits include: The Buddy Holly Story (UK Tour); Jesus Christ Superstar (Frinton) and Dear Elizabeth (Gate).
PAUL KEMBLE (SWING)
Theatre credits include: Cry-Baby The Musical (Arcola); Hello, Dolly!, Sister Act, The Sound of Music (London Palladium); Titanic The Musical (UK & International Tour); West Side Story (Ljubljana Music Festival); The Sound of Music (Alexela Concert Hall, Estonia); Top Hat (The Mill at Sonning); School of Rock (Gillian Lynne); All the Angels (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse); Romeo and Juliet, Pinocchio (Middle East Tour); Pinocchio (Sharjah Literary Festival); Top Hat (Aldwych/UK Tour/Japan); High Society (Old Vic); Made in Dagenham (Adelphi); Stephen Ward (Aldwych); Love Story (Duchess); Two Cities (Salisbury Playhouse); The Woman in White (Palace/Marquis, Broadway); Cinderella (Northampton Theatre Royal); Evita (Zouk Amphitheatre, Beirut); Our House (Cambridge); Sunset Boulevard (UK Tour); A Little Night Music (Trinity, Tunbridge Wells); Bernstein’s Mass (Queen Elizabeth Hall).
JOHN MARQUEZ (MARLIN WHITMORE)
Theatre credits include: The Birthday Party (Theatre Royal Bath); Opening Night
(Gielgud); Pygmalion, The American Clock, Flea In Her Ear (Old Vic); The Messiah (The
Other Palace); The Twilight Zone, The House of Games, The Hypochondriac (Almeida);
Once in a Lifetime, Annie Get Your Gun, Good Soul of Setzuan (Young Vic); Dirty Rotten
Scoundrels (Savoy); Neville’s Island (Chichester); Ding Dong The Wicked, Mother Teresa is Dead (Royal Court); Privates on Parade (Noël Coward); Ragtime (Regents Park Open Air); The Taming of the Shrew (RSC); The Emperor Jones, Market Boy, Sing Yer Heart Out For
The Lads (National); The Anniversary (Garrick).
NATASHA O’BRIEN (DELILAH/ENSEMBLE)
Theatre credits include: Starter For Ten (Bristol Old Vic); Aspects Of Love
(Apollo); Mamma Mia (Novello/International Tour); Falsettos (The Other Palace); Children of Eden (Union); Bronco Billy (Workshop), Annie, Seussical: The Musical (LKTYP Toronto); HONK! (Globe Theatre Regina); The Buddy Holly Story, A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline (Rainbow Stage Winnipeg); Robin Hood (Centaur Theatre Montreal) and A Christmas Carol (Rose Theatre Brampton).
AIESHA NAOMI PEASE (UKULELE SUE)
Theatre credits include: Wicked (Apollo Victoria); Mrs. Doubtfire (Opera House, Manchester); Gypsy (Buxton Opera House); SIX (UK Tour); The Regulars (Hope Mill); Aladdin (Cambridge Arts); Priscilla Queen of the Desert (UK & Ireland Tour); Hair (UK Tour/Cologne Kölner Sommerfest); Hadestown (National); Kiss Me Kate (Opera North/UK Tour/London Coliseum); Sister Act The Musical (Leicester Curve/International/UK Tour); Hairspray (UK & Ireland Tour); The World Goes ‘Round (Finsbury Studios); Ragtime (Pleasance); The Witches of Eastwick (Bloomsbury) and Twerk du Soleil by Todrick Hall (Leicester Square).
DAVID PENDLEBURY (SID/ENSEMBLE)
Theatre credits include: The Baker’s Wife (Menier Chocolate Factory); Sleeping Beauty (Bath Theatre Royal/The Anvil, Basingstoke); Betty Blue Eyes, Hello Again!, Once Upon A Mattress (Union); Sweeney Todd (English Theatre Frankfurt); Nice Work If You Can Get It, Anything Goes (Upstairs At The Gatehouse); Into The Woods (Cockpit); The Producers (China Tour); In Gay Company (Jermyn Street); Profumo The Musical (Waterloo East); Me & My Girl, Little Shop of Horrors, The Pirates Of Penzance (Kilworth House); The Last Maharajah (Wyndham’s, workshop); Disney’s The Lion King (Lyceum); Disney’s Beauty & The Beast (Dominion); The Phantom Of The Opera (His Majesty’s); City Of Angels (Prince of Wales); Kiss Of The Spider Woman (Shaftesbury); Edmund Kean – Child Of The Sun (King’s Head); Jesus Christ Superstar (Chelmsford Civic); Leonardo – A Portrait Of Love (Old Fire Station, Oxford); Jesus Christ Superstar 20th Anniversary (UK Tour); Starlight Express (Apollo Victoria); Chess (UK Tour); The Phantom Of The Opera 25th Anniversary (Royal Albert Hall) and The WestEnders.
MARTHA POTHEN (CORA/ENSEMBLE)
Theatre credits include: The Frogs (Southwark Playhouse); Now That’s What I Call A Musical! (UK Tour); Oliver! (Leeds Playhouse), Showstopper! The Improvised Musical (UK Tour); Snow White and The Happy Ever After Beauty Salon (Salisbury Playhouse); The Visit (National); Cold Feet and Bacon Sandwiches (Hampstead) and Privates on Parade (Union, OffWestEnd Award Nomination).
RICKY ROJAS (MARCO/ENSEMBLE)
Theatre credits include: Moulin Rouge! The Musical (Al Hirschfeld, Broadway/Emerson Colonial, Boston); Burn the Floor (Longacre, Broadway); Sister Act The Musical, It’s All About You, Tonight’s the Night: The Rod Stewart Musical, BBC Strictly Confidential, Grease (UK Tours); Flashdance: The Musical (Shaftesbury); Burn the Floor (Shaftesbury/New Zealand Tour); The Pirates of Penzance (Wilton’s Music Hall); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Adelphi); Fame: The Musical (Aldwych) and Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (Novello/UK Tour/Internationally).
CHAD SAINT LOUIS (SANDY)
Theatre credits include: Mona Loser (Southwark Playhouse); After The Act (Royal Court); Cry Baby (Arcola); Ghost the Musical (Northcott, Exeter); Spring Awakening (Kay House); Assassins, Into the Woods (Susie Sainsbury); Semi-Toned (UK & International Tour/Edinburgh Fringe); Meet Me in St. Louis (Phoenix Arts Club); Revelations (Theatro Technis) and A Little Night Music: Cabaret After Dark (C-Venues).
JOSH ST. CLAIR (HENRY)
Theatre credits include: Ghost the Musical (UK Tour); A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (Lido2, Paris); My Fair Lady (Frinton Rep); Glory Ride (Charing Cross); Disney’s Frozen the Musical (Theatre Royal Drury Lane); Follies (American Legation, Tangier); City of Angels (Garrick); Kinky Boots (UK Tour); School Of Rock (New London); Wicked (UK & International Tour); Shakespeare Live! From the RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company); Snow White (Manchester Opera House); Hey Old Friends (Theatre Royal Drury Lane); Friday Night is Music Night (Royal Albert Hall) and Roles We’ll Never Play (Turbine).
SAMANTHA THOMAS (SWING)
Theatre credits include: Wicked (Apollo Victoria); Les Misérables (Sondheim); The Third Man (Menier Chocolate Factory); Jet Set Go (MTFest UK/Turbine); Follies (Yvonne Arnaud); Godspell in Concert (G Live); Patagonia (National Youth Theatre of Wales) and Macbeth (Lyric, South Wales).
CHARLIE TOLAND (DOUG WHITMORE)
Theatre credits include: Sin The Musical (The Other Palace Studio) and Villains Unleashed (UK Tour).
