Written by Richard Tullock – Composed and Musical Directed
by John Field
Directed by Luke Joslin – Choreographed by Leanne Halloran
Stage Managed by Terry Schmaltz
The B, Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre – 6th
September 2025.
Reviewed by BILL STEPHENS
 |
| Andrew James - Lynne Mcgranger - Wayne Scott Kermond - Meredith O'Reilly |
This second edition of The Grandparents Club relocates
the action to a cruise ship on which Jimmy Bigelow, played by the irrepressible
Wayne Scott Kermond, is now working as the Cruise Director.
Bigelow has managed to get his friends, Liz and Jeff, reprised
by Lynne McGranger and Andrew James, a special deal for the cruise, in which
they’ve also included their friend, widowed Italian nonna, Maria (Meredith
O’Reilly).
This delightful little musical, written by Richard Tullock
with songs by John Field has been created with a specific cast and audience in
mind, and as such succeeds mightily.
As the Cruise Director, Jimmy Bigelow, Wayne Scott Kermond
brings a lifetime of vaudeville and musical theatre experience to the table. Of
fourth-generation vaudeville lineage, Kermond is an unrivalled virtuoso of
musical theatre, comedy and cabaret.
Just to watch him move across the stage is a joy, as is his joie
de vivre, his mastery of physical comedy and his ability to extract a hearty
laugh from even the corniest joke, makes his performance irresistible.
Similarly with Andrew James, with whom he is teamed as
Bigelow’s best mate, Jeff. In a long career James has appeared with Bell
Shakespeare, Nimrod, Griffin and Sydney Theatre Companies. But besides his
skills as a classical actor, James is an entertainer and it is his joy in his
ability to enthral, as he does in the moving grandfather to grandson ballad,
“I’ll Walk This Walk With You”, that provided one of many memorable moments in
this show.
On her first entrance
Lynne McGranger was greeted with an ovation in tribute to her recent Gold Logie
award as The Most Popular Personality on Australian Television. The warmth and naturalism
she brings to her television role, as well as her stagecraft honed over a long theatre
career, is on full display in her portrayal as the happy-go-lucky Liz,
particularly in her hilarious rendition of “Every Nanna Needs a Pamper”.
In an outstanding stage career honed over 40 years Meredith
O’Reilly has enjoyed many highlights including being directed by Dame Julie
Andrews in the Opera Australia production of My Fair Lady, but it was her
rendition of the best song in the show “Child of My Child” which had audience
members reaching for their tissues.
A colourful shipboard setting and costumes, together with Luke
Joslin’s polished direction, some cheeky choreography by Leanne Halloran, and
the hint of a happy ending, ensured their audience left the theatre thoroughly
charmed and entertained by a show that is a masterclass of its genre.
This review first published in the digital edition of CITY NEWS on 07.09.25
