You’d be forgiven for thinking that this is the sort of story that would flail as a musical. But you would be wrong. This was a roaring hoot.
At first glance, it’s easy to wonder why anyone thought this story belonged on stage. When the Adam Sandler rom-com premiered in 2004, this tale of a woman whose memory re-sets every single day, and a man hellbent on pursuing her, was regarded as warm and boyish in the way that Sandler films are.
But like most of the noughties’ big-hitters, the premise has aged badly. On a recent rewatch, I couldn’t help but wish he had left the poor girl alone. (She literally has no idea who you are! And doesn’t the pregnancy feel a bit off, given she has amnesia?)
And so no one is more surprised than me to find I not only enjoyed the nostalgia of 50 First Dates: The Musical, but I cried real tears. I couldn’t help it. David Rossmer and Steve Rosen’s musical score tugged on my heartstrings, and I left the theatre in bewilderment.
Instead of Adam Sandler’s philandering walrus vet, Henry Roth is a noncommittal travel influencer (John St Clair). That should have made him a more repellent character than the original’s cheeky chappy, but it only worked to make him more sympathetic. We feel oddly sorry for this solitary character trapped on Instagram and YouTube with no real friends.
His whole reason for being alive, it seems, is to blog about different countries for a series called ‘The Perfect Day’. He travels alone, committing to no one. He has an overbearing agent (Natasha O’Brien), who delivers some of the show’s funniest lines (she enjoys a second role as an art teacher, delivered so well that the laughs continue long after she stops speaking).
Georgina Castle’s character Lucy, formerly Drew Barrymore, is a sugary pixie dream girl, not dissimilar from the original. The romantic leads themselves are not particularly likeable, but then, lovers rarely are. Lucy’s short-term memory loss means Henry must win her heart again and again. He begins an endless quest to give her The Perfect Day.
The plot is subtly different from the film. They are now in Florida Keys rather than Hawaii, and Henry’s best friend and general spirit guide is the waiter Sandy (Chad Saint Louis). Aided perhaps by an uber-romantic shared song, They’re Not You, the seminal first date is more convincing than the naff Hollywood version. But that isn’t to say this is any less cringey. For most of the show, the lines are hammy, and that’s part of the fun.
The real star is the music. Somehow, Sandy’s silly ballad about their fishing village, Key Largo, gave me shivers. And much-loved matriarch Ukulele Sue (Aiesha Naomi Pease) touched the soul with Happy Sunday.
But my tears came unexpectedly when Castle’s Lucy ripped up her diary that recorded their love affair and demanded that Henry help. After watching them fall in love so steadily, it was genuinely moving to see the helplessness of Henry, resigned and pathetic.
The show is choreographed by multi-Tony Award winner Casey Nicholaw, who also worked on Mean Girls and The Book of Mormon. This isn’t a surprise: it has that same goofiness you’d expect from a rom-com, and the self-awareness of a show that knows it’s riffing on a cheesy, nostalgic classic.
50 First Dates: the Musical is genuinely funny and often heart-warming. You’d be forgiven for thinking that this is the sort of story that would flail as a musical, destined to join the ranks of the widely panned Hercules. But you would be wrong. This was a roaring hoot. By the time my tears had dried, I was utterly won over.
50 First Dates: the Musical runs from 14 September to 16 November at the Other Palace theatre, London
