Now that the rights have been released for amateur companies it seems that there are many productions of Sunshine On Leith in the pipeline for this year. The Fife premiere though goes to Leven Amateur Musical Association (LAMA) and on all this week at the Centre in Leven. Based on songs from The Proclaimers and first performed at Dundee Rep in April 2007 it also has been a full musical movie in 2013 gross nearly £5 million in the process. The story surrounds two returning soldiers from Afghanistan Davy and Ally played by Andrew Doig and Callum Stott. Ally’s parents are pivotal to the plot too with Jean (Karen Richards) and hubby Rab (Thom Hughes) having big songs and dramatic moments to savour. Songs like I’m On My Way, Life With You, Take The ‘R’ Away, Letter From America and a rousing (I’m Gonna Be) 500 Years all deliver well, the latter with an ensemble too big for the stage they spilled across the front and down the sides resplendent in matching kilts. It truly became a Busby Berkley outlandish number like a flash mob from nowhere and a triumph for director and choreographer Fiona Gallacher Stewart. There are some comedic moments too and I particularly liked the call centre training sketch which had me laughing out loud. I also enjoyed how they did use the whole theatre space from the opening squaddies scene to the use of the stairs at the front of stage and actors flooding the space later on. If you are tempted, don’t try for tickets as the whole run sold out last month when tickets went on sale online, an outstanding result for this company who have been producing musicals since 1873.
The Centre Leven until 19th March