Book, Music and Lyrics: Jane Morgan
Director: David Phipps-Davis
Given the churn of new musicals straining to sound modern, it is hard not to warm to Once in a While, Jane Morgan’s new semi-staged musical comedy.
Unlike many contemporary productions, Once in a While makes no contrived lunge for the present day, but looks back to 1930s London with unapologetic affection, while still knowing when to take the mick: pinched accents, social panic, romantic misadventure and a self-confessed Ivor Novello-ish pastiche.
The plot has a deliberately vintage contrivance. Bernard Chalmondly, a rising composer and singing teacher, falls for his new pupil Nancy, only for a photograph of them kissing in Tatler, a husband, and the rules of polite society to complicate the matter. The evening is at its strongest when it treats this world less as drama than musical confection: numbers begin with a lone voice before being suddenly swept up into bright ensemble harmony, with a pre-war flavour teetering between Novello, Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. A refrain such as “bring back the velocipede, ban the car” captures the show’s flair for silliness.
Jenny Perry’s Nancy makes for a spirited period heroine, while Charley Robbie’s Lady Poppy Harrington takes the satirical caricature to a new level: teeth bared, unwavering smile fixed and cadence ablaze, even if the zaniness is at times too much. Better still is Elizabeth Chadwick’s Lady Ethel Horsford. Busty, red-headed and imperious, she steals laughs with a voluptuous upper-class hauteur: grand vowels, deadly timing and the air of a lady for whom everyone else is an inconvenience.
Besides these standouts, the production isn’t always dramatically secure. Greg Castiglioni, as Bernard, is the vocal highlight, singing with a classical ease that gives the score its richest moments of the night. Dramatically, though, he is less persuasive, particularly in combination with Charles, Nancy’s ex-husband, played for one scene by the pianist. The flourish is charming, but the contrast leaves the romantic core underpowered. Charles ought to loom over the affair; instead, his threat is never felt as strongly as the characters insist it is. The path to the ending, therefore, drags, with the lack of threat making the second half feel predictable from early on.
Nor does the semi-staged form always help. Scripts in hand are understandable in a concert performance, and at times clearly necessary, but the cast’s uneven reliance on them occasionally breaks the rhythm. Even so, the show’s charm is disarming. Its commitment to the past, to pastiche, and to an affectionate satire of British pomp gives it real appeal. Once in a While may need further shaping, but there is enough flair here for it to thrive as it stands. Jane Morgan started writing this in 1983, and so it’s good to see it finally on the stage.
Runs until 2 June 2026
