Eddie and the Gold Tops, a number one hit!

In September 2011 Lizzie and I went to see Back to the Land Girls, a production by the Badapple Theatre Company. This comedy musical was a complete delight (see my review of it here) so when we heard that Badapple were touring a different show we were very keen to see it. I’m pleased to say that it didn’t disappoint when we caught one of the last performances of its run in June.

There’s an old-fashioned charm to the Eddie and the Gold Tops story – a young milkman is torn two ways. Should he give up his day job to pursue the bright lights as a pop star? Or should he stay true to a promise he made to his father when he was dying – to never miss a milk delivery in his hometown of Bottledale? Or can he manage to do both? It’s set in the early sixties, when almost every young man had a guitar and wanted to mimic the success of teen idols like Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard, and Billy Fury. Eddie is just the same and this isn’t too much of a problem when he’s playing at dances and shows at the local palais. But things start to get very complicated indeed when the band releases a single which is heading for the charts, and an appearance on Top of the Pops beckons.

I’m not going to give too many secrets away, as it’s on tour again at the moment (to 4 November), but I can highly recommend this show. It’s witty, the cast are uniformly superb, and the songs are great (as an aside, if like me, you’ve seen the show and were surprised by the mention in one of the songs about girls’ names with the inclusion of Barbara-Ann, as you were sure the it wasn’t a hit for the Beach Boys hit until 1966, you’d be partly right. The Beach Boys’ version was released in December 1965, but another group, The Regents, had a hit in the US with the song in 1961).

At the end of the show, the audience were clearly all absolutely delighted, as were Lizzie and I, and the cast came back for several bows.

Eddie and the Gold Tops was written and directed by Kate Bramley, who before forming Badapple was with Hull Truck Theatre Company. The brilliant songs werewritten by award-winning singer/songwriter Jez Lowe (who happens to have a group called the Bad Pennies – Kate plays fiddle for the band).

Eddie and the Gold Tops has 10 characters but the cast comprises just three people, so each of the talented performers has multiple roles.

Jonny McPherson played: Eddie the milkman, and Peter, his scheming rival at the dairy

Kaitlin Howard played: Marion, Eddie’s girlfriend, Lilly – one of the local housewives, Camille – Brian’s PA and Velda –  a girl at a party

Robert Angell played: Gerry – Marion’s father, Fyfe – a reporter, Doris – another local housewife, and Brian – a record company promoter and agent

The main prop also has to take various roles – serving as a milk float, the dairy, a stable for the milk float’s horse, a recording studio, and a stage for the pop group.

In the current run actor, comedian, musician and Edinburgh Fringe veteran Aiden Lee Brooks plays Eddie/Peter.

You can check out all the dates and venues for the current tour by clicking here