Lyrics: Joe Venable
Music: Georgia Rawlins
Director: Mimi Pattinson
Hotly tipped as one of the 10 best musicals on the Fringe this year, new musical Jingle Street comes from the creator of award-winning On Your Bike, a previous Fringe hit and the sister production running this year at the Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose from Chordstruck Theatre.
Jingle Street is a show full of advertising jingles and therefore has the potential to be annoying, crass or just plain tiresome but luckily this crazy musical is none of these things. Instead it is funny, clever and above all, silly. If silly is your thing then you will absolutely not be disappointed.
Advertising executive Colin (Tom Hayes) will happily create a jingle for any client, no matter how questionable they or their products are. That is until one day, when he wakes up only able to communicate by singing jingles. A frustrating situation to be in, and one that is only eased by a chance meeting with activist Jasmine (Maddie Smith). Despite not getting on initially, Jasmine and Colin are soon sparring with words, and falling in love. Cue the secondary stories of Colin’s boss (Xander Pang) who has accidentally got into an awkward marriage agreement from his childhood that he can’t get out of, and Jasmine’s assistant Parsley (Emily Huxter) who is also in love with Jasmine. It’s all a bit Love’s Labour’s Lost with some energetic dancing and a variety of fairly catchy tunes.
There are a number of very clever lyrics and lines, and therefore some very successful comedy scenes, particularly those involving Pang. There are also a few quirks that stop it from being as slick or professional as it could be. One slightly disconcerting element of the show is that when the actors are not on stage they are sitting around the outside, seemingly watching and reacting to the scenes, and occasionally glancing and grinning at each other across the action in the middle of the floor. This breaks the illusion of the story somewhat, and dials down the charm a notch – but could easily be remedied.
This show has got great potential, it is close to being snappy and even closer to being a real hit. It has a lot of appeal, some daft jingles (though more real ones would have helped the audience to engage with the concept) and the cast clearly have the ability to make this show as popular as its predecessor. Farcical and in parts fabulous, this is definitely worth a watch.
Runs until 27 August 2023 | Image: Contributed
