A TURN BACK IN TIME

Dave Sealey: ‘With a little Bit O' Luck' at the Croft Hall, Hungerford, Friday 8 th April

One of my early childhood recollections was listening to my parents' crackly old record of Stanley Holloway reciting his most famous monologues. I was enchanted by Sam (pick up thy musket) Small and young Albert's stick with a horses head handle, but it was many years before I found out how extensive the Holloway repertoire really was .

Dave Sealey brought the whole Stanley Holloway story vividly to life with his one-man show in Hungerford.

Before an eager audience in the fine surroundings of Croft Hall (undeterred by the hall's heating problems), Dave provided two full hours of anecdotes, sons and monologues about one of the great figures of the English stage.

From the performer's early days in silent movies, his thwarted ambitions to become an opera singer; and his entry into seaside variety shows, Dave traced the Holloway story through his roles in the post-war Ealing comedy gems, such as Passport to Pimlico, to the runaway success (on both stage and screen) of his character Albert Doolittle in My Fair Lady – at an age when most people would be seriously considering retirement.

Sealey gave a highly-polished and engaging performance, interspersing a broad range of famous and lesser-known Holloway masterpieces, with a running commentary that cleverly incorporated recollections from his own career in variety entertainment with those of his subject.

With a great talent for characterisation and impressive comic timing, he breathed new life into the more familiar pieces and encouraged the audience to join in with immortal chorus lines including ‘I'm getting Married in the Morning' and ‘Brown Boots'

Thanks to such great writers as Marriott Edgar and Lerner and Lowe, Stanley Holloway achieved a breathtaking range of performances and theatrical styles that spanned the best part of the 20 th Century.

Though some pieces have stood the test of time better than others (‘ My word you do look queer' loses something in the translation), he will be long remembered with affection and admiration.

Dave Sealey should be heartily congratulated for keeping the story alive with such tremendous enthusiasm. With a Little bit O' Luck , he'll be back with another show soon.

Mark Lillycrop – Newbury Journal Review.