THE THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF – Original Cast Recording (SimG Records)
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The musical partnership of Stiles and Drewe – namely George Stiles and Anthony Drewe – has been extraordinarily productive. It has also created many and varied shows for its audiences. There appear to be common threads running through some of the shows that are often aimed at young people. For instance, Identical is based on a Disney film, The Parent Trap, which dealt with the activities of a pair of young twins. Similarly, Mary Poppins, another Disney film, for which Stiles and Drewe wrote extra songs, is about the impact a nanny has on two young children. In Becoming Nancy there is an element of cross-dressing for its youthful hero, while Half a Sixpence, also with new songs, is about a young man seeking his way in the world.
Travels With My Aunt is an adaptation of the Graham Greene novel about a crazy old aunt and her adventures with her rather staid nephew, a former bank manager. Soho Cinders is a gay take on the traditional Cinderella story but without the usual trappings of white mice and a golden coach. This is odd because Stiles and Drewe seem to have often specialised in writing shows involving animals of one species or another.
For instance, in Peter Pan, the Newfoundland dog Nana is a prominent character in the piece. Wind in the Willows is about the lives of Ratty, Badger and Mole as they try to tame the ebullient Mr Toad. Honk! is based on the Hans Christian Andersen story of The Ugly Duckling, while Betty Blue Eyes takes Alan Bennett’’s film of A Private Function about the eponymous pig and makes it the heroine of a musical. Just So was based on the Rudyard Kipling jungle tales about beasts, birds and fishes, which leaves just the latest trio of Stiles and Drewe children’s animal stories, Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks and the Three Bears and The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Put them all together and you have literally a musical menagerie.
Three Little Pigs was commissioned by the Singapore Repertory Theatre with the idea of having a trilogy of three musicals all performed by a cast of just five. Goldilocks and the Three Bears followed and then came The Three Billy Goats Gruff. This is now available on CD and is described as “a rock ‘n’ troll musical (ouch!) for kids (and their nannies)”.
The link between Stiles and Drewe and the Singapore Repertory Theatre began in 1997 when Drewe was asked to write lyrics for local composer Dick Lee’s murder mystery musical comedy show A Twist of Fate. Its success led to three revivals. Then Stiles and Drewe put on Honk! in Singapore, after which they were commissioned by The Little Company to write three musicals for kids aged three and above, lasting about 50 minutes each. All three shows were a great hit and they have gone on to have further productions in Australia, Hong Kong, Finland, China and the USA, as well as UK tours and West End runs.
The idea behind The Three Billy Goats Gruff is to alert children to any dangers that may happen to them and to make sure they enjoy life where they are and not to look for what may appear to be better on the other side of the fence. It’s a pertinent warning but done in a comical way. The creators asked their professional friends to join them in the fun, so, Lizzie Bea plays the forgetful Goatherd, Little Bo-Frilly, Millie O’Connell is Baby Billy Goat, Tyrone Huntley is Middle Billy Goat and Michael Xavier is Big Billy Goat. Playing the nasty old Troll is David Bedella, veteran of so many musical shows in the past.
The story itself is an old Norwegian tale about three goats who live in a field in a green valley. When they have eaten all their green grass they are still hungry for more, so head off over a rickety bridge by a stream. However, the bridge is watched by a horrible Troll who is fond of eating goats. One by one they try to cross the bridge. However, Baby Billy Goat tells the Troll to wait for his bigger Middle brother, because there’s not much meat on his bones. When the Middle Billy Goat approaches the Troll he too tries, saying wait for his even bigger Big Brother, but he finally sees off the Troll by butting him into oblivion. And so the three Billy Goats Gruff enjoy some delicious green grass on the other side of the rickety bridge, but they have also learnt a lesson.
It’s a cautionary tale but one done with a lightness of touch that appeals to children. The musical score and the lyrics are a delight throughout the show. It opens with a Goatverture (another ouch!). Then the three Billy Goats introduce themselves, explaining that, while they will eat anything, they do prefer fresh grass, vines and shrubs. They extol the virtues of life on the other side of the fence in ‘The Grass Is Always Greener’ and set off to find pastures new. As they exit, the Troll enters and sings about his favourite food in ‘I Love Goat’.
Deciding they can at least try to deceive the Troll, the three Billy Goats get into shape in ‘We Can Work It Out’. When the Troll hears them approaching his bridge he sings ‘Who’s That Trip-Trapping?’ but, after facing up to the Big Goat he’s a goner, is turned to stone and disappears for ever, while the goats and the young audience agree to stay in their own backyard where they are safe from any awful passing Trolls.
The music score is a delightful mixture of bouncy numbers for the goats and some more macabre tunes for the Troll. It all adds up to a good-humoured show with a mix of electronic-sounding music and some ker-plunking banjo styles that are most agreeable and really foot-tappingly catchy. That said, there is also quite a bit of bright and bubbly choreography for the cast as they tip-tap their merry way towards the rickety bridge.
On disc it sounds charming and makes one want to see it live on stage. The orchestrations by Ruth Ling are jovial and the score just bowls along with some really memorable tunes. The use of the banjo in some of the numbers gives the piece a sort of cowboy western feel to the music. I am sure any child – and their nannies or even their parents – would enjoy this cheerful little show.
Michael Darvell
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