The Rise and Fall of Little Voice - Review

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice
Lane Cove Theatre Company
O'Kelley Drama Theatre - St Ignatius College
Tambourine Bay Road, Riverview
Directed by Christine Firkin

Reviewed by Ben Oxley

credit: Lane Cove Theatre Company

Cast includes: Wendy Morton, Nick Bolton, Kevin Weir, Luke Reeves, Michelle Bellamy, Mark Reiss and Debbie Neilson as LV.

A strictly limited season. Five performances only!
Thursday 10th April 7.30pm
Friday 11th April 7.30pm
Saturday 12th April 2.00pm
Saturday 12th April 7.30pm
Sunday 13th April 2.00pm

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice is a 1992 play written by English dramatist Jim Cartwright. Sam Mendes directed stars Jane Horrocks and Alison Steadman in the original run at the Royal National Theatre before transferring to the Aldwych Theatre in London's West End.

Horrocks went on to create the screen version, Little Voice, alongside Brenda Blethyn, Michael Caine, Ewan McGregor and Jim Broadbent.

Middle-aged alcoholic Mari Hoff falls for Ray Say (Nick Bolton), a struggling artists’ manager whose acts include dodgy acts and a couple of strippers. So when he hears Mari’s shy, reclusive daughter, Little Voice (LV), mimicking the classic divas from her father’s old vinyl collection in her bedroom, she is the answer to all his prayers. He realises he has discovered an undiscovered talent. She brilliantly brings to life the voices of Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Julie Andrews, Liza Minnelli and Lulu.

Wendy Morton as the acerbic, insecure Mari, is well cast and very funny – a “livewire” and queen of one-liners. Talking to the engineer fitting her new telephone she says: ‘‘Mari Hoff. Crappaty name, isn’t it? Me late husband Frank left it me. You can imagine my feelings on signing the marriage register... Mr and Mrs F Hoff”.

Michelle Bellamy is motherly as Mari’s “fat friend” Sadie. The pair celebrate Mari’s new relationship with Ray by bump-and-grinding to the Jackson 5 in the lounge. Knowing Sadie’s sweet tooth Mari tells her “make yourself a cup of sugar with tea in it” as a treat.

Fresh-faced Luke Reeves plays Billy the phone engineer, who romances Little Voice from an extended cherry picker outside her bedroom window. He is the one who loves her for what she is.

But it is talented impersonator Debbie Neilson as LV who steals the show with her big show-stopping numbers at Mr Boo’s club night. When she turns on the vocals for Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli, she has us back in the golden age of entertainment.

A tribute to artists that LV had loved and shared with her late father, it's the breakdown of a family that has lost touch with reality. A touching, amusing and nostalgic night at the theatre, especially if you love listening to classic divas like Edith Piaf, Billie Holliday and Shirley Bassey.