Cruising With The Grandparents Club

Cruising With The Grandparents Club

Playwright Richard Tulloch

Composer and Musical Director John Field

Director Luke Joslin

Choreographer Leanne Halloran

Photo credit Gary Johnstone

Reviewed by Ron Lee, CSP, MAICD

Cruising With The Grandparents Club aka The Grandparents Club 2 is a theatrical musical cruise that involves three grandparents who are temporarily escaping from their kids and grandkids, and they're welcomed by a lively cruise director, but because of mobile phones and the internet, can they truly postpone communication, and do they really want to? Absence makes the bond even stronger.

The all-singing, all-dancing, all-acting adventure will resonate with anyone who is a grandparent, parent or even a grandchild.

Because of the ages of the characters, the cast members are eminently seasoned and highly skilled. To list their credits would give me typists' cramp. Meredith O’Reilly as Maria, Andrew James (Jeff) and Lynne McGranger (Liz) share at least 120 years of show business experience and Wayne Scott Kermond, who is the reincarnation of Donald O'Connor, is a fourth generation vaudevillian who really knows how to work an audience. With Kermond, the fourth wall doesn’t exist. He plays Jimmy Bigelow, which appropriately sounds like a character in a 1950s musical.

Even though Richard Tulloch is the writer and Luke Joslin is the director, it’s obvious that Kermond strongly influenced the development of the Bigelow character, and it’s gratifying to see that the training and experience of an outstanding exponent of vaudeville is brought to the stage in a current context, and the audience responded. His effortless physicality is impressive.

In this age of reality television “celebrity”, it’s great that genuinely talented performers of grandparent age have the opportunity to entertain receptive audiences and for the audiences to appreciate and enjoy people who know how to execute their craft.

The production is ninety minutes in duration, and if you’re a grandparent, you’ll definitely stay awake during this show. 

This is a touring production, so check online for venues and dates.

www.thegrandparentsclub.com

Expect excellent performances, touching songs and plenty of jazz hands. Whatever your age, you'll walk away feeling happy.