The Likes of Us

Went to see another York Light Opera Company production last night. This time The Likes of Us, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's first musical together. I can't say that it was a great story, there was one couple in it that did a few songs but there didn't seem to be any reason for them being there. The main story is of Dr Barnardo and the setting up of his first children's home in London in 1870 and the musical is told by a narrator who introduces a lot of the songs. The narrator in the production, Ian Small, was very good and really helped to keep things together. You could see a likeness with the use of the narrator to that of Joseph, but by then they'd obviously had more experience writing musicals together and used the idea much more effectively in Joseph.

Still another good performance, particularly from James Parkes, playing Barnardo, he had a great singing voice. The only slight annoyance of the evening was that for an audience that was largely made up of little old ladies, I managed to get a seat behind the only man that was over 6 feet tall!