Michael Arndt’s 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine featuring a highly dysfunctional family’s road trip across America to a beauty pageant in California has been adapted into a musical by James Lapine and William Finn.
The story itself is fairly simple – Olive Hoover is the star as a quirky and fairly typical seven year old girl. She has the chance to compete in a beauty pageant in California and win the coveted title of Little Miss Sunshine- albeit as perhaps the underdog contestant.
The family pack up and trek hundreds of miles from Alburquerque to California in a rickety old VW van, facing a number of challenges along the way as they race to make the competition.
Olive’s mentor for the pageant is her reckless, drug-taking, porn-watching Grampa (Mark Moraghan) who has advice such as “Don’t go near drugs until you’re on social security”.
Her discontented mother (Lucy O’Bryne) and struggling self-help writer father (Gabriel Vick) are on the brink of divorce. Throw in a suicidal uncle distraught at the loss of his lover and a brother who is selectively mute and you are in for a hell of a road trip.
Throughout the journey and the bumps that inevitably follow, the family argue, clash and drive each other crazy. However they are family and unite together to get Olive to the pageant and learn to love and celebrate each other in spite of their flaws. It’s not so much about the destination but the journey for this particular family.
Monaghan, a former Coronation Street and Holly City star, is clearly enjoying playing the rebellious pensioner and delivers some comedy gold during his song about his love of sex.
The strong cast deliver their individual quirky characters well, however the plot could allow more time to let the characters interact and develop deeper relationships on stage.
The soundtrack is enjoyable and adds to the story, however many of the songs fall into the instantly forgettable category.
The production gently satirises the absurd stereotypes of a beauty pageant – from the sickly sweet contestants to the camp attention seeking hosts. The highlight of the show is Olive’s fabulous and unconventional performance choreographed by her grandfather which has the audience cheering and laughing
A film almost entirely centred around a road trip is difficult to deliver in the theatre. However some clever staging and choreography easily overcome this and keep the story (literally) moving along. The bright and creative set from David Woodhead also brings the story to life.
An enjoyable performance which most can relate to. Fans of the film will not be disappointed.