THEATRE REVIEW: Little Miss Sunshine at Sheffield Lyceum

The hit road trip movie has come to the stage, and our critic went along for the ride.

THE story of the Hoover family's epic road trip sucked Oscar judges and audiences in 13 years ago.

And now theatregoers here have the chance to see the musical adaptation of Little Miss Sunshine on stage.

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Speaking to fellow audience members on the first night of the show at the Lyceum this week, it seemed that people loved the film enormously and some felt that the musical was a poor relation.

But as a Little Miss Sunshine novice, I absolutely loved the show, described in the title as "A Road Musical" and in the programme as "dark comedy."

It bursts into life with song right from the start, as the audience is introduced to the Hoover family, which includes mum, dad, grandfather, uncle and children Dwayne, a teenager obsessed by reading Nietzche, and his younger sister, Olive.

The story revolves around Olive, played to perfection on the night I went by Evie Gibson - three girls take turns in the role - who is desperate to get to a Little Miss Sunshine contest in California. She is eligible to compete but the Doc Martens-wearing, bespectacled Olive doesn't quite fit the pageant queen profile.

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Another problem is that the competition takes place 800 miles away from her home in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Enter another star of the show, the family's ancient Volkswagen van, and the scene is set for the trip ahead.

All the cast, including those in supporting roles, have good singing voices and also non-jarring American accents, which is a great bonus.

Grandpa Hoover, played by Mark Moraghan, has a particularly excellent voice and is very funny, making me laugh out loud at times.

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Lucy O'Byrne as mum, Sheryl, has a gentle voice, but uses it to good effect and the duet I'll Make You Proud with her husband Richard, played movingly well by Gabriel Vick, is very powerful.

There are also touching scenes between Olive and her grandpa.

The long and eventful trip from New Mexico to California brings the relationships between the six family members into focus, trapped as they are in the unreliable van.

The Proust academic Uncle Frank, played amusingly and on occasion movingly by Paul Keating, gives his nephew Dwayne - with Sev Keoshgerian excellent in the role   a pep talk, including the line "Nietzsche is all intellect and no heart."

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The show culminates with the pageant, which includes an amusing appearance by Imelda Warren-Green as Miss California.

Colourful costumes and live musicians as well as some nifty dancing add greatly to the show, which culminates with the song Get in the Van.

I loved this musical and it certainly didn't miss in bringing a little sunshine into my life.

Little Miss Sunshine is at Sheffield Lyceum until Saturday.

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