The world premiere of Military Wives The Musical at York Theatre Royal delivers uplifting elation and devastating grief in equal measure – and shows how we can live with both.
Written and directed by BAFTA award-winner Debbie Isitt, of the Nativity! franchise, this is a brand new British musical with buckets of charm and gut-punching pathos.
Military Wives – The Musical is at York Theatre Royal from Wednesday 10 to Sunday 27 September.
It’s based on the 2019 film of the same name, and the true story of the formation of the first Military Wives choir in 2010 which was captured in a BBC documentary with Gareth Malone.
It’s a pacy and quick-witted show – and genuinely laugh-out loud hilarious – but it doesn’t shy away from taking moments of stillness and silence. One minute you’ll find yourself chuckling, the next it’ll be weeping.
The exceptional cast of women is truly the highlight of this show. Bobbie Little as choirmaster Olive carries great energy and sparkle through the show, and is the anchor between the audience and the wives. When she first sings the iconic Wherever You Are, it’s like time stops for Little’s incredible voice.
Jessica Daley (Jenny) and Rachael Wooding (Krissy) bring some fantastically funny moments, which only makes their emotional scenes more poignant.
Kayla Carter’s sweet Faith, Ashleigh Gray’s hopeful Terri, and Emma Crossley’s determined Bex help ground the show in its emotional reality, with Sydney Isitt-Ager’s Sarah is sure to break your heart.
A particular highlight was Caroline Sheen’s (Susannah) show-stopping performance of perhaps the saddest rendition of Vanessa Carlton’s A Thousand Miles I’ve ever heard.
The men can’t be forgotten about either, with Stewart Wright giving a superb comic turn as Dave the Welfare Officer, Joe Kelly and Billy Roberts succeeding in strong multi-roling performances, and Adrian Hansel has a voice I could listen to forever.
Every character gets a moment to shine in the show, but with a large cast the want to dig deeper into every story is present.
We only really get a glimpse into each character’s inner life and struggle – such as attemps at IVF and relationship breakdowns – so it stays at a surface level. As Bex’s actress Emma Crossley points out in this interview, that when the first Military Wives choir was formed, gay marriage was not yet legalised in the UK, so her and her partner Paula (also played by Little) could only be in a civil partnership at that time. I wish that there was the space for more exploration into real-world implications during that time.
The show only occasionally strays too far into sentimentality, with some lines of dialogue edging towards cliche, however the genuine earnestness of the cast sells every line.
The simple set (Katie Lias) of moveable cardboard boxes was effective in representing how these women’s lives lack permanence, and Rory Beaton’s lighting design took us straight to the conflict in Afghanistan. I particularly enjoyed movement director Rebecca Louis’ choreographed combat scenes that almost had a balletic quality to them.
Musical maestro George Dyer (arranger, orchestrator, musical supervisor and musical director) was note-perfect, and there’s beautiful underscoring throughout the whole show which never felt like a distraction.
The show takes us on a musical whirlwind of pop bangers, rock ballads, and Motown classics, with everything from Spice Girls, to Cyndi Lauper, to Pink, to Guns N’ Roses, to Sister Sledge.
Once we reach the final number, the audience has been put through the emotional wringer, but the sheer euphoria of the choir performing at the Royal Albert Hall brought the auditorium to their feet.
Above all this is a show that demonstrates the power of community, the resilience of those left behind, and how the most important thing is to simply keep showing up.
Olive tells the group of women that when a choir sings their hearts beat as one, and it truly felt in the theatre that every person synchronised in harmony for a couple of hours in this joyous beating heart of a show.
Military Wives – The Musical is at York Theatre Royal until Sunday 27 September. Tickets start from £15 and are available via the theatre website here.
