Morecambe

Last night I saw 'Morecambe' by Tim Whitnall at Winchester's Theatre Royal.  Sadly the theatre was less than half full, presumably as a result of the ticket pricing: £24 for an adult and £22 for concessions is a bit steep for Winchester!  However, I'm glad I forked out because it was a wonderful evening. 

Bob Golding, nominated for 'Best Actor in a Musical or Entertainment' at the 2010 Olivier Awards, for his performance as Eric Morecambe, was sensational.  Not only does he have Morecambe's physical characteristics off perfectly, but his energy simply shone through.  For those of a certain age, the Morecambe and Wise Christmas show was the highlight of the festive season, and attracted audiences as high as 28m - in other words, half of the country was watching!  My daughter's generation see the Dr Who Christmas Specials as a key part of their Christmas, but it gets a meagre 10m or so viewers.  Now, I know that the world was a very different place back then, and that now there are hundreds of channels competing for audiences, but 28m is a pretty specila number by anyone's standards.

The show brought it all back - the one-liners, the physical humour, and the sheer affection that the nation had for Morecambe and Wise.  Ernie was played by a ventriloquist's dummy, and the moment when Eric put him back in his box for the final time, paused and kissed him, was much more moving than a man kissing a doll should ever be.  Around me the sound of sniffing was unmistakeable, and the old cliche, not a dry eye in the house held true.

When the show won its Fringe First at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival it ran for just over an hour, whereas last night it had expanded to two - if there was padding then it certainly wasn't noticeable.  Its run in Winchester ends tonight but if it then comes to a theatre near you, don't miss it.