Jenny Bede: The Musical is a delightful one-woman show with a stand-up comedy feel. Inspired by the success of Lin Manuel-Miranda’s Hamilton, Jenny’s generated around 250 ideas for a musical of her own in the hope that one will be picked up by the legend himself, Sir Cameron Mackintosh. And yes, I shamefully did a double take of the audience to check that he wasn’t in our midst when she led us to believe that he was.
In the opening number, ‘Look At My Range’, she demonstrates that she’s got a fine voice and quick wit too. Although the show centres around pitching different musicals, it is not exclusively for fans of the medium. During the show’s 55-minute running time, she skates through her various contenders including ‘Well, Actually’ the Musical where mansplaining has the peculiar ability to turn a woman on and ‘In The Club Tonight’ inspired by the musical stylings of Jason Derulo and Pitbull. The lyrics are fun, satirical and she’s not afraid to poke fun at herself and others.
Jenny’s comfortable up on stage and handles the moments of crowd participation like a pro. Some may remember Jenny from the 90s pop band Cherry Falls, but here’s hoping one day she’ll be known when one of her ideas for a musical is picked up.
Jenny Bede: the Musical is running at Just the Tonic at the Mash House from 1 – 25th August (not on 12th) at the time of writing.
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