Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Reviewed by Louise Winter on Tuesday 16^th June 2009 at Milton Keynes Theatre

Every obvious cliché can be used to describe this musical – thigh slapping, foot tapping, yeehah shouting, hand clapping fun! It is a lovely story and really quite sad at times.

The Pontipee brothers live a typical bachelor life out in the wilds of Oregon.
Big brother, Adam, well played by Steve Houghton, drives into town to find a wife to ‘keep house’ for him and the other boys.
 Luckily for him, he finds Milly, who agrees to marry him and return home with him that evening. Milly, played perfectly by Susan McFadden, is a sweet but spirited gal, who imagines she will be living in a ‘house for two’. She’s less than happy when she discovers there are six rough hillbillies at home.

Milly sets about transforming them into young men with manners and etiquette. This is where the laughs and fun of the story are mostly found and ‘Goin’ Courtin’ with Milly and the brothers was very funny. I did think some of the brothers overacted in this scene – they are country hillbillies, not a cross between Neanderthal man and a primate just dropped out of a tree. However, the contrast between these ‘savages’ and the ‘new’ species of male that Milly manages to conjure up is made very clear by such a strong interpretation.

There are brilliantly memorable songs, ‘Bless your Beautiful Hide’, ‘Wonderful, Wonderful Day’, ‘Spring, Spring Spring’, ‘ Sobbin’ Women’ and many more. 

Most outstanding are the fantastically energetic and inventively choreographed dance routines. Chris Hocking is the director and chorepgrapher and the stage of Milton Keynes Theatre is filled at times what with 26 people hurling themselves around. It really is spectacular.

Every single member of the cast is superb; they all give it 100% throughout. To mention all of them is impossible here.

This is a brilliant production and a great evening out, so if you can get tickets: GO!

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is at Milton Keynes Theatre until 20^th June.

Milton Keynes Theatre Box Office: 0844 871 7652 (bkg fee) www.ambassadortickets.com/miltonkeynes.  For details of further tour dates go to UK Productions website
http://www.ukproductions.co.uk/seven-brides-08/introduction.asp. Dates are currently showing on the UK Productions website are: