“Our House” by People’s Theatre Company
Nottingham Arts Theatre

“Our House” also known as the Madness Musical, has a soundtrack made up of the songs of ska/pop band Madness.

"Our House" follows the story of London lad Joe Casey. On the night of his sixteenth birthday, an over-excited Joe takes Sarah, the girl of his dreams, out for a romantic evening. On a whim, he breaks into a new building development near his house to show Sarah the view over north London. When the police come, Joe faces a tough decision: to run, or give himself up. It is at this point that the story splits in two as we follow the fortunes, and misfortunes, of Good Joe and Bad Joe.

Harry Ilyk (Joe Casey) is perfectly cast as he is just a little older than the character and has the boundless energy of a baby tigger on Duracell batteries - on and off stage - and you definitely need that energy with this character.

There are many quick changes - the quickest being just four seconds - from good to bad Joe, and you'd think that with all the racing around and costume changes, it may affect his singing! Nah mate, not a bit. His singing is strong and you can hear every word that he sings.

This is his first leading role, as far as I can recall and he proves that he is a credible leading song and dance man.

Jeri Taylor (Kath Casey) also has a first here because this is her first stage role in musical theatre, well since school, and again a perfectly cast choice. Her soft lilting Irish accent - for the role - is unwavering and lovely to hear. Being a seasoned singer, her vocals are clear and well projected. I hope that this musical theatre debut will now pave the way for many more roles for Jeri. Oh and when "Blood Brothers" is released for local theatre to do, I can't think of anyone better than the part of Mrs Johnstone than Jeri.

Joseph Smith (Emmo) and John Gill (Lewis) probve that great things do come in pairs. The comedy friends of Joe Casey are a wonderful pairing who, at times quite literally, bounce off of each other.They get the party started, especially at the opening of the second act.

Lucie Conroy (Sarah) continues the perfection in casting as Joe's girlfriend. A lovely singing voice, both solo and in duets like "It Must Be Love" with Harry and "NW5" with Joe's Dad.

Mike Bulford (Dad), and I don't think I'm giving too much away here, but Dad is not around anymore for Kath or Joe, but he appears quite ghost-like throughout, watching over Joe.

Bertie Black (Reecey) makes his People’s Theatre Company debut in this role. I have seen Bertie in various theatre productions in the past and I know that he brings a certain energy to every role he performs; and this is no different. You can just tell that he is one of the not so good characters, not a real nasty, but erring on the side of not being a good influence on Joe. His giggling, due to his naughty Reecey thoughts, makes us giggle along with him, but only because he is infectious.

Emme Gunn (Angie) also makes her PTC debut as well as her first singing and dancing appearance since her school days. Paige Shaw (Billie) completes the pairing of Sarah's friends, and I love both of their, almost chavvy-like characters. They're cheeky and a lot of fun.

Cliff Hart (Mr Pressman) gets to play the real baddie of this piece, wanting to tear down the Casey's home to make way for his own development with not a thought for whoever gets in his way. A small but meaty role.

Alex Huntley (Callum) plays the possible beau to Sarah when she gets to college, but that all depends on which Joe, good or bad, prevails! Alex gets to play yet another role for the ladies as previously he has played the arrogant Gaston in "Beauty & The Beast"and the UPS guy in "Legally Blonde", In this role ladies, you only get to see his legs in a kilt!

I mentioned energy earlier and this ensemble bring even more energy with several of the ensemble doubling up for various roles. This large ensemble make the dance routines a joy to watch. You can't beat a good sized ensemble for a big dance break and the choreography in this play is wonderful, but then I expected it to be as the Choreographer is Amy Rogers-Gee, she never fails me.

Directed by Chris Teasdale, who also makes several cameo appearances throughout, including ladies, one in a string vest! Alex's legs in a kilt and Chris' string vest, the tickets will be flying off the shelves with promises like these. Seriously though, Chris has been Directing and performing in productions for quite a few years now and if anyone knows how to get it right, Chris does.

The music of Madness is infectiously catchy and the band under the musical direction of David Hails and Sam Griffiths ensures that from the very first note, your toes are tapping and they get your hands a clapping, and if you're looking for good sax, then you won't be disappointed here!

The comedy is well timed and there are some wonderful comic lines, my favourite being about girls and chocolate biscuits - I know I have you guessing now, so go see what I mean. The energy is non stop, the songs, apart from one were all written by Madness, so that says everything about the fun you'll have at this show. The cast have put a tremendous amount of hard work into this show, and it really shows and it's really paid off.

The couple of sound issues I know will be rectified after this first night, they always are, but nothing could take the happiness I felt as I left the theatre away. It makes you feel like doing a Gene Kelly as in "Singing In The Rain" down the street after seeing this wonderfully happy, feel good show, so go get your tickets now!

Wouldn't it be an embarrassment to have missed out on this this fun house of a musical?

“Our House” is at the Nottingham Arts Theatre until Saturday 25 May.