Maggie May

Just... no.

So tired of male writers and their obsession with showing females as hookers on stage.

Don't they know Lionel Bart wrote a musical with the same name?

Coming next: someone writes a musical to be called "South Pacific".

Tone deaf.

I love the shows at the Royal Court in Liverpool. It’s worth going JUST to see the theatre. It’s rather a unique set up with their dinner style seating in a grand pros arch theatre packed full of history. Their Xmas musicals are hysterical!

Exactly i thought it was a Rod Stewart juke box show, and I’m sure so will lots of others

Agreed but what we do need is a ‘musical’ based on the music of the Cheeky Girs ...

Seeing this next Tuesday.

Maggie May has sailed into Liverpool's Royal Court theatre and I daresay the powers that be at the Liverpool Empire are casting envious glances at their neighbour down the road.

The Royal Court has a tradition of presenting new work with a Liverpool twist but more often than not that's in the form of comedies. However here we have a new musical, ten years in the making, which tells the story of Maggie May, a young girl travelling from her home in Dublin in search of a new life in New York. Some minor spoilers may follow.

Maggie arrives in the city intending to set sail on the next ship to New York only for her plans to go quickly awry. It's through her eyes that we see the Mersey docks brought to life as her ambitions to begin a new life are thwarted and the reality of a very different existence sets in. We follow her first working as a servant then having to resort to work as a professional escort before filling the jobs left vacant by servicemen as the First World War begins.

The title role is a big ask but Christina Tedders delivers an electrifying performance that's the very definition of career-defining. She has a magnetic stage presence which is utterly enchanting to watch as she fills Maggie with a realism that means the audience are immediately on her side and invested in her as a character. It's the nuances in Christina's flawless portrayal that really struck me. While Maggie is rarely less than a force of nature on the outside, there's a vulnerability beneath the bolshy exterior which Christina captures quite exquisitely as deceits and misfortunes take their toll. 

There's great work alongside Christina from Michael Fletcher who gives a heartwarming, hugely likeable portrayal of Maggie's confidant and admirer Charlie. The scenes early in act two when he returns from war and struggles to re-adjust to normal life are particularly affecting. Tom Connor as the lecherous James Campbell also impresses as the principal villain of the piece, while Barbara Hockaday and Katia Sartini sparkle as Maggie's descent into Liverpool's seedy and bawdy underworld gathers pace.

If the story sounds rather dark and depressing then the musical succeeds in being anything but that, largely thanks to one of the most impressive new musical scores I've heard for a long time. In the absence of a cast recording, a return visit is hugely tempting just to listen to those glorious songs again. The score is diverse, with folk-infused, foot-stomping numbers mixed with lush ballads, some of which feel almost laced with sea air as they conjure up images of sea shanties which help to further bring the Merseyside docks to the stage.

The music is brilliantly performed by the company of actor musicians but this never feels intrusive and the moments when the house band go all out in full ensemble numbers on the dockside or in the pub, such as the Cabaret-style number closing act one, are something to behold. There's a fair few earworms in the score and their reprises tie the whole thing together as a cohesive whole. Act one, while not entirely sung through, keeps the dialogue between songs brief, while the musical numbers become fewer, further between and on-the-whole more paired back after the interval. Fans of Once in particular will find a lot to enjoy here.

There's surprising moments of humour to be found in the script too, particularly in a scene which serves up a delicious farce towards the end of Act 2, helping to lighten the mood before the finale where we discover whether Maggie gets her happy ending.

The striking set makes use of a revolve which is an original feature of the Royal Court but has only recently been restored after decades out of use. It conjures up three distinctive mise-en-scènes of early 20th century Liverpool life very effectively.


My only criticism is that one or two things in the plot feel slightly glossed over and while this keeps things moving at a pace in a show already running to two and a half hours, an extra ten minutes wouldn't have gone amiss. That minor quibble aside though, Maggie May is an absolute triumph for the Royal Court. It's a story performed with energy, passion and emotion, laced with a rare degree of realism, that captures the hearts of its audience in a rich, sumptuous production. It deserves both a place in Liverpool folklore but also to grace stages far beyond its home city.

Five stars.

Two and a half hours including interval. Evening performances start at 8pm.

Enjoyed this last night. First half better than the second, but Christina Tedders is great as the lead and the rest of the cast by and large give it their all. Towards the end the story gets a bit far fetched and seems rushed but a great night out at a great price.