The Life of the Party, Menier Chocolate Factory

I still regard myself as an Andrew Lippa newbe – though now that his recent outing at the St James Theatre has morphed into fully-produced all-singing, all-dancing London show with props and projections and costumes and lights I am beginning to feel a little less like a gatecrasher at the party. Ok, so I went to the wrong Wild Party all those years ago – have I really had to wait all this time for an invite? Well, here it is – embossed.  The Life of the Party – David Babani’s more than welcome Chocolate Factory offering – once again reminds me what I’ve been missing all these years: a consummate composer/lyricist whose songwriting brilliance is matched only by his performing skills. You know why the songs are so funny – because his timing is so good. And you know why the songs are so poignant – because he’s known the disappointment that afflicts us all.

So we began as we would end, with the man himself back where he belongs – at the keyboard. “Marshall Levin” – written for Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday celebration – is about an adolescent crush but one that only show people, whatever their sexual persuasions, could truly empathise with. At the other end of the evening was “Happy/Sad” (from The Addams Family) where a wistful phrase from Lippa’s accompanying string trio was answered by the fail-safe response of all show people: best smile forward.

In between, it’s heaven all the way with the mighty talents of Caroline O’Connor, Damian Humbley, and Summer Strallen giving their all to bringing Lippa off the page and into our hearts. How I wish I’d seen Big Fish where I would surely have carried numbers like “I Don’t Need a Roof” and “Fight the Dragons” off into the night. Or The Addams Family where the context of “The Moon and Me” and “Just Around the Corner” will have lent enhancement to already terrific songs.

There had to be nuns at the party, of course, and the night after seeing The Carmelites at the Royal Opera the wickedly funny and terminally un-PC “Christ Almighty” carried an irony that I could not possibly have predicted. That was from a “musical in development” Ashphalt Beach as was the insidiously catchy “I Do What I Do”, which should be come Lippa’s signature tune.

But let me momentarily extol the virtues of Caroline O’Connor who did something quite extraordinary with a stand-alone number called “Love Somebody Now” and completely, utterly, hysterically stopped the show with what is surely now the Lesbian anthem de rigueur “An Old-Fashioned Love Story” (from the “right” Wild Party).

I knew this “Aside” would grow into a fully-fledged review but truth be told there is as much talent on display in this show as pretty much anywhere in the West End right now. And if you want proof conclusive of Lippa’s impeccable credentials then you need look no further than one number: the quartet “Poor Child” (again from The Wild Party) which he speaks of as being inspired by the final act equivalent in Verdi’s Rigoletto but, joking aside, is every bit as sophisticated – and memorable – and in this show represents the apogee of his art.