There’s a first time for everything – even when you are 83 years old.
Which is why Aaron Thom is delighted to be directing AOC Productions first outing with classic musical Me And My Girl, even though the theatre company has been on the go since 1940 when it started as the Aberdeen Opera Company.
“It’s a show which people expect AOC to have done over the past 83 years as we have done Anything Goes, we have done Fiddler On The Roof, but one we haven’t done is Me And My Girl. Now is the time”, said Aaron.
And he hopes audiences will be equally delighted when this musical – which premiered in the 1930s – takes to the stage of the Tivoli Theatre in Aberdeen later this month in all-singing, all dancing show which features timeless hits like The Lambeth Walk and The Sun Has Got His Hat On.
“It has got everything that, in my opinion, a musical should have in it and it will have the audience singing and tapping along,” said Aaron. ”It will have visual spectacle, elements of comedy, great costumes and a great set.”
A nice surprise
Aaron said AOC’s Me And My Girl will have a new and slightly contemporary spin, thanks to the addition of dancers from Sarah MacNay’s Aberdeen Academy Of Dance.
“The six dancers we have added into the cast have been fantastic and they appear almost as a collective at various points that I think people wouldn’t necessarily have expected. There are elements of almost 42nd Street,” he said.
“People know there is the Lambeth Walk and bits of tap in Me And My Girl, but this extra element will be something of a nice surprise.”
Me And My Girl has a long and glittering pedigree. It was a hit when it was first performed in 1937, then revived in the 80s with a new book by Stephen Fry in an award-winning West End production that helped catapult the careers of Robert Lindsay and Emma Thompson as Bill and Sally.
The story tells of humble Lambeth costermonger Bill who is named in the wealthy aristocrat Lord Hareford’s will as his rightful heir – but to become a Lord he has to part from his sweetheart, Sally.
“When it was first performed it was a contemporary show, but now it is a vintage nostalgia piece. Stephen Fry revised the script in the 80s and it is very witty with some really funny lines,” said Aaron.
Cast working hard to get ready for show
He added that the 31 strong cast have been hard at work since October, bringing this classic story to the stage and they can’t wait for curtain up from May 31 to June 3, said Aaron.
“There is the right level of excitement and a bit of nerves, but they can be a source of energy,” he said. “I remember once reading a quote by Judi Dench that said nerves are 90% excitement and 10% fear and I have stuck by that.”
Aaron is confident audiences will have a great night out with Me And My Girl.
“It is the sort of recipe you expect from a traditional musical. Something that will make you feel better as you leave the theatre than when you went in, something that gives you a song you can remember on your way home, and something that you feel had a story and a message,” he said.
AOC’s Me And My Girl is at the Tivoli Theatre from Wednesday May 31 to Saturday June 3. For information and tickets visit Aberdeen Box Office at aberdeenperformingarts.com or call 01224 641122.
