SEVEN HEAVEN

Sep 21 2008 by Lesley Oldfield, Sunday Sun

SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS, Sunderland Empire

THE jaunty tunes of Seven Brides get your toes tapping . . . and jaw dropping. It has been about 20 years since I last saw Howard Keel star in the original Hollywood musical, and I had forgotten a lot of the plot.

Such as the pivotal moment when the brothers kidnap six women and merrily carry them “sobbing, sobbing, sobbing” back to their distant ranch!

Bless Your Beautiful Hide is still the standout song and, though Steven Houghton — of London’s Burning fame — does not have the booming voice of Mr Keel, he “sure sings purdy”, as the brothers would say, in the softer numbers.

Susan McFadden — winner of ITV’s Grease is the Word reality audition show — gives the star performance, however. Her relaxed, rounded voice and confident performance is unforced and delightful. Others seem excessively stagey and shouty in comparison.

The not-to-be-missed dance number, a haze of swirling petticoats and strutting cowboys, sees the brothers ducking and diving as they try to win their girls from townie rivals at a social — LESLEY OLDFIELD