My Very Own British Invasion

Paper Mill Playhouse, Millburn, NJ, January 10, 2019

Reviewed by Chip Deffaa for Cabaret Scenes

The star of My Very Own British Invasion—a new musical receiving its world premiere (through March 3) at Paper Mill Playhouse—is one Jonny Amies from England. Remember that name! Fresh out of London’s Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, Amies is giving the most satisfying theatrical debut I’ve seen anywhere in recent years. He’s charming, he moves well, he’s utterly believable on stage, and he sings with warmth and heart. His voice is well-rounded and brimming with good cheer.
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 He has a terrific sense of time, a rhythmic sureness that serves him well. (Theater schools turn out many graduates who hit notes correctly but, alas, are rhythmically stiff; by contrast, he’s blessed with a buoyant sense of swing.) And he’s an utterly natural, unaffected singer—none of that straining-to-soar quality (whether the songs call for it or not)—that’s afflicted so many aspiring performers ever since the advent of such television shows as Star Search, American Idol, and America’s Got Talent. His singing is beguiling and it is true. You warm to him. This is his professional debut and director/choreographer Jerry Mitchell has certainly picked wisely in casting him; Amies is perfect for this musical’s leading role, that of the young Peter Noone.

My Very Own British Invasion is a fast, fun, breezy kind of show, chock-filled with some 30 memorable songs from the “British Invasion” of the 1960s. It’s loosely inspired by experiences of Peter Noone—leader of the famed group Herman’s Hermits—(whom I enjoyed meeting at the opening-night party). It’s professionally done, with a book (“based on an idea by Peter Noone”) crafted by Rick Elice (best known for Jersey Boys); it’s directed and choreographed with flair by Mitchell (of Kinky Boots renown). While there are still a few wrinkles that need ironing out, I really enjoyed this show and believe it should have a bright future.

It’s my favorite rock “jukebox musical” to date. (I can’t stand most of ’em.) And the first one that’s really made good use of these songs of the ’60s. There’s a storyline about two guys fighting over one girl. (That’s an age-old plot and it still works.) There are plenty of songs, done well, that are well-worth hearing again, from “There’s a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)” to “I’m Into Something Good” to “I Only Want to Be with You” to “House of the Rising Sun.” Elice has fit these songs into the storyline with better care than we usually find in jukebox musicals.
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 There are still a few awkward moments, and the show takes a bit longer than it should, I think, to make it clear to us who the main characters are and why we should care about them.  

But we do come to care about the main character, Peter Noone, who’s fallen for a girl (played by Pamela Olson) who’s in love with a bad boy of rock (loosely inspired by Mick Jagger, and played colorfully by Conor Ryan). I didn’t completely buy the performances of either Olson or Ryan (who struck me as very nice people doing their best to play characters a bit rougher and more dangerous than any people they’ve known or have been), but they were likable enough and interesting enough. There are enough good songs in the score for every principal to get a moment to shine.
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Jen Perry makes a terrific impact in a brief scene as Peter’s Mum (proving once again that you don’t have to have a big part to make a big contribution to the success of a show). She is compelling in that scene, playing the protective, pull-no-punches mother, who doesn’t want her son getting hurt. She makes such a vivid, striking impression, I think it’s a mistake to use her as a random ensemble member after that. You don’t really take notice of most ensemble members. But Perry is so strong as Peter’s Mum (and she earns a big hand), it’s impossible for her to simply disappear back into the ensemble after that. (She’s supposed to be an anonymous club patron in one scene after her scene as Peter’s Mum but, when she walked onto the stage for that scene, my first thought was: “What’s Peter’s Mum doing in this club?” I had trouble viewing her as just another club patron, 

The ensemble does a good job. It’s a youthful, high-spirited cast, and their energy never flags. I wish there were more ensemble dancing, though.  Mitchell is so good at staging such numbers, it’s a pity we don’t see more, especially with so much action taking place in a club filled with patrons dancing. (The first bit of ensemble dancing ends all too quickly.) But this is a brand-new musical, still in the process of finding its identity.
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Not everything in the production, at this stage, is perfect, and I hope they’ll do a bit more tinkering. But so much is right, and there are so many good songs, such a good sense of momentum for much of the night, and there’s an immensely appealing star, I left the theater beaming.

Get a ticket, if you can. You’ll pay much more to see this show when it eventually gets to Broadway.
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And there’s much to enjoy here.