Tuck Everlasting was performed at the Patrick Studio, Birmingham Hippodrome.
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
National Youth Musical Theatre are following up their excellent production of Fame with a very different choice of show, namely the UK premiere of Tuck Everlasting.
The little-known show is based on the American children’s novel by Natalie Babbitt, and couldn’t be further from Fame’s gritty New York City. Instead this time we’re transported to a much quieter part of America in the early 1800s, and a remarkable story of eternal life and the very essence of mortality. The musical was first seen in the US about a decade ago, but hadn’t made its way over here yet, so the NYMT are the first to tell its extraordinary tale.
In 1808, the Tuck family discover a water spring while travelling through a forest, and drink from it without thinking. Unknown to them, the enchanted water makes the family immortal, never ageing again from that day and making them impervious to harm or illness.
As the years pass and the family realise their condition, they agree to part ways and only meet up every 10 years, so as not to draw suspicion. Eighty-five years later, the town has grown, and a rambunctious young girl named Winnie Foster (played by Chloe Hinxman) is desperate to go to the fair see and more of the world beyond. She meets Jesse Tuck (Ronav Jain) and learns of the family’s secret.
Also on the trail of the secret is the Man in the Yellow Suit (Sam Bennett), leader of the fair, who wants to exploit it for his own wealth. As Winnie learns more about the Tucks’ condition, she is offered the same path, but faces a tough choice when the true weight of eternal life is revealed.
A coming-of-age fairytale rooted in philosophical thought, Tuck Everlasting is an incredibly original experience. Though it may initially feel like a lightweight magical tale about a spring with special powers, it ultimately transcends this and asks what it really means to be alive, does infinite time mean anything if there’s nothing to fill it, and that living to the fullest with natural mortal restrictions means far more than simply existing forever, as the show puts it, like a rowboat anchored in the middle of a pond.
The book (Claudia Shear and Tim Federle) adapts Babbitt’s original story beautifully, simply told but full of heart, and brought to life with a deft touch by director Richard Fitch.
Although Act I is perfectly sweet, the show really comes into its own in the second, where it really delves into the bigger questions, exploring how eternal life could be a curse as much as a blessing, and the final half hour becomes a joyfully transcendent experience that is sure to bring a tear to the eye.
Culminating in a wordless dance sequence (choreography by Simon Hardwick) that tells the rest of Winnie’s story, the show hits an emotional place that few shows go anywhere near, and the results are breathtaking.
The score (music by Chris Miller, lyrics by Nathan Tysen) is a wonderful folky mix of delicate melodies, with whispers of Come From Away and Frozen, and is beautifully delivered by the live orchestra.
You always know with NYMT productions that you’re going to see some future stars, and the performances here are no different. Hinxman leads the show with an assurance far beyond her young years, and imbues her Winnie with the kind of plucky spirit and wide-eyed wonder that a professional actress playing Anna in Frozen would be proud of.
Jain also does a fantastic job as Jesse, a man desperate for romantic love to fill his eternal life, and shows leading man confidence from the second he appears.
Peter Lucas gives a heartbreaking edge to Miles Tuck’s tragic backstory and really conveys the emotion with his beautiful performance of ‘Time’. And Bennett brings a great ‘sleazy villain’ energy as the Man in the Yellow Suit, hopefully the first of many twisted characters roles for him.
Far deeper and more profound that it may initially appear, the waters of Tuck Everlasting really do run deep, and we can only thank the NYMT for bringing this show over to our stages for the first time, hopefully not the last either. With strong performances from theatreland’s next generation, Tuck Everlasting is a powerfully beautiful success. Well done to all involved.
Rob Bartley
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