Bugsy Malone tour review: Charm of gangster adaptation is undeniable-Claire Allfree-Entertainment – Metro

Bugsy Malone is an adaptation of the 1976 gangster musical (Picture: Pamela Raith)

Alan Parker’s 1976 musical pastiche gangster flick, set in Prohibition-era New York, is a triumph of style over substance – and, in this instance, that’s a compliment.

A razzle-dazzle fantasia of sequin sparkle and noirish shadow, and performed almost entirely by children, it’s one big nod-nod wink-wink to the art of pretence – youngsters dressing up as adults, custard replacing gun fire, naivety masquerading as sophistication.

This touring version of Sean Holmes’s terrific 2015 Lyric Hammersmith stage adaptation has lost a bit of its original coherence, yet its charm and zest is undeniable.

There’s a cocksure pluckiness to this story of underage gangsters, dreamers and fighters that transcends the odd acting wobble afflicting the performance I caught at Alexandra Palace (there are three rotating casts).

The story faithfully follows the original film: suave-speaking Bugsy Malone is trying to woo wannabe Hollywood singer Blousey while helping out his friend Fat Sam (on the night I caught, an outstanding Albie Snelson) whose speakeasy joint and general reputation is under threat from Dandy Dan and his splurge-gun-sporting hoodlums.

Against Jon Bausor’s brooding set, which transforms in an instant from crepuscular back alley to glittering illicit cocktail bar, goons in sharp suits fight to the death and starlets sing their hearts out under the spotlights.

The story tells of Bugsy trying to woo Hollywood singer Blousey (Picture: Pamela Raith)

It’s set in the Prohibition era (Picture: Pamela Raith)

Some of the narrative jumps are a bit brutal, particularly for those who haven’t seen the film, but the individual set pieces, which give full reign to Paul Williams’s imperishable songs and accompanied by Drew McOnie’s pin-sharp choreography, are a knockout.

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So You Wanna Be A Boxer; We Could Have Been Anything We Wanted to Be; the achingly lovely Tomorrow sung by the small but essential janitor Fizzy: that peerless knowing sweetness and irrepressible youthful joy of the original film remains intact. A heart-soaring Christmas treat.

Bugsy Malone is at Alexandra Palace, London, until Jan 15, then on nationwide tour

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