Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Review
Seven Brides for
Seven Brothers
Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield
10-15 February 2014
Reviewed by Becky Linsell
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers has been adapted for stage from the 1954 hit musical. It is touring the UK and I watched the performance in Sheffield at the Lyceum Theatre.
I have just spent a delightful couple of hours watching the high paced show set in Oregon USA, in the 1850’s. The story is of Adam, the eldest of seven brothers, who lives on a remote farm in the mountains who sets off to the town to get himself a wife. Millie catches his eye and agrees to marry him. Adam forgets to mention to Millie that his six uncouth brothers all live with him. She is shocked to learn this on her arrival at the farm but soon sets about educating the brothers in etiquette, dancing and charming ladies, as they all want wives themselves. The brothers do however have a rather unorthodox way of getting their girls!
Adam is played by Sam Attwater (Winner of Dancing on Ice and acting roles in EastEnders and Hollyoaks,) but tonight’s performance was by his understudy Alex Hammond, whose performance was excellent and note perfect. For me, however his co-star Helen Blackman (runner up in BBC 1’s How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria) was the absolute star of the show. She has a beautiful pitch perfect voice and is completely convincing in the role of Millie. The rest of the cast can’t go without a mention as the brides, the brothers and the townspeople all put in a great energetic performances.
The stage sets and lighting are fantastic and add a great depth, providing pine forests, the town, log cabins and an avalanche! There are lots of costume changes which add to the colour and vibrancy of the performance.
The choreography is truly impressive, it has such a high energy tempo that sweeps through the whole show. The credit for this goes to Patti Colombo who is an award winning choreographer, with a long list of successful shows behind her, for which she takes credit.
This is such a heart-warming show, it carries you along with the well-known songs and the amazing dance routines. I was tapping my feet along to the music, I had a smile on my face throughout and it is definitely a recommended “go see”. I think I will be singing Bless My Beautiful Hide all week!
Rating: 5/5 
Tickets are priced between £19.00 – £32.00 (a booking fee may apply).
To book tickets visit www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk or telephone 0114 249 6000.
The show is touring the UK until May 2014.
