Firstly, there is nothing more wonderful than a theatre full of tweens, twenties and beyond spilling onto the street singing and humming Let’s Go Fly A Kite.
Secondly, you won’t be able to get the damned song out of your head the rest of the night even as you head to Hushabye Mountain.
We knew that the great Sherman Brothers wrote some classics but the breathtaking breadth of their truly great songbook is both a wonder and a wondrous break from weary reality.
A Spoonful of Sherman really can make any modern medicine life hands us go down – and this musical does it in the most delightful way.
A Spoonful of Sherman is a delight and Glen Facey shines
The show is simplicity itself. Five performers, two pianos and a static set.
The book, such as it is, combines glowing biography with slightly hokey homespun homilies.
The songs are a joyous whirl through the golden age of family musicals. Grins bloom and toes tap as your childhood rings in your ears again before you stealthily try to wipe away a tear or two at the melancholy magic of Feed The Birds.
The Sherman Brothers wrote the music for Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Jungle Book, The Slipper and the Rose, Winnie The Pooh and a host of pop classics like You’re Sixteen.
Former A1 star Mark Read shines on the piano
Jungle Book classics written by the Shermans also appear
Across 55 (yes 55) numbers the versatile cast charm and delight.
Young leading man Glen Facey has the most expressive face this side of Tommy Steele, matched by lungs and buns of steel. His acrobatic monkeying about during I Wanna Be Like You brought the house down.
Jenna Innes, straight out of drama school, is the perfect foil with a sweet sincerity and clear soprano.
Their bright eyes and bushy tails are tempered by Sophie-Louise Dann’s seasoned sass and sense of what comes after youthful optimism.
A Spoonful of Sherman’s set-up is simple but heartfelt
Mark Read and Ben Stock share piano duties but also have their chance to shine.
Former A1 star Read’s rendition of River Song is spine tingling while Stock shamelessly steals more than one scene with blissful clowning on The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers and as a deranged macaw on Crunchy Crackers.
Small but with the biggest of hearts, this show really is just what the doctor ordered. Lovers of classic musicals and those childhood dreamers who still secretly believe a nanny or clapped out car can fly should not miss it.
A SPOONFUL OF SHERMAN AT LONDON GREENWICH THEATRE March 26-30. For tickets and information go to: www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk
Full UK Tour dates below:
The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers appears in the show
FULL UK TOUR DATES: For tickets and information go to: www.aspoonfulofsherman.com
April 2nd Buxton Opera House
April 5th-7th Swansea Grand Theatre
April 10th-11th Harrogate Theatre
April 12th-13th Southport Atkinson Theatre
April 15th-17th Hornchurch Essex, Queen’s Theatre
April 18th-20th Isle of Wight, Shanklin Theatre
April 23rd-24th Newport Riverfront Theatre
April 25th-26th Yeovil Somerset, Octagon Theatre
April 30th-May 1st Swindon, Wyvern Theatre
May 7th-9th Lincoln Theatre Royal
May 14th-15th Weston Super Mare, Playhouse Theatre
May 16th-18th Exeter Northcott Theatre