All the Fun of the Fair

All the Fun of the Fair

All the Fun of the Fair

David Essex’s musical extravaganza that takes its cues from his album of the same name originally found a home in the capital when it was housed at the New Wimbledon Theatre in early 2009. Now it makes a triumphant return, this time teaming with the Garrick Theatre to bring the fun of the fair to the West End.

Between the show’s closure in Wimbledon and its re-opening at the Garrick in April 2010, “All the Fun of the Fair” enjoyed a UK tour, which saw it delight audiences up and down the country.

But its Garrick run will the longest yet, beginning in April and running all the way until September 2010.

“All the Fun of the Fair” focuses on Essex’s character of Levi Lee, a fairground worker who has many problems to face in the present and future. A recently widowed father, he is already struggling to cope with his son’s teenage rebellion but he soon has other issues to deal with as he must handle the affections of a recently divorced woman, whilst helping his son with his own love life a well.

But these are all problems facing him today – what about in the future? When Levi visits a gypsy fortune teller on the fair he learns of dangers lurking ahead of him. How will he cope with his problems in the future if he can’t face the ones in the present?

“All the Fun of the Fair” also contains numerous musical numbers, all taken from the David Essex debut album of the same name, including “Gonna Make You A Star”, “Winter’s Tale”, “Me and My Girl Nightclubbing”, “Hold Me lose”, “Silver Dream Machine” and “Rock On”.

These were all singles that made his name in the 1970s and 1980s. Essex has been performing in musicals and behind the microphone for decades now and has racked up credits that include “Footloose” at the Novello Theatre alongside “Godspell”, “Mutiny!”, “Aspects of Love”, “Evita” and “Boogie Nights 2”. He has also appeared in numerous movies, with some audience members possibly recognising him from “Stardust”, “Silver Dream Racer” and “That’ll Be The Day”.

The upcoming show at the Garrick Theatre will be directed by Nikolai Foster, with a book by Jon Conway and music and orchestrations provided by Ian Wherry.

“All The Fun of The Fair” begins its performances at the Garrick Theatre on Wednesday 28th April 2010 (previews from Saturday 17th April 2010) and continues until Sunday 5th September 2010.