Living the dream

I DREAMED A DREAM, Palace, Manchester


DOES Susan Boyle actually warrant a musical?

Probably, yes: three years ago she was just another lonely spinster with a cat in West Lothian, wondering what had happened to her life.

Before 2009 was out her dishevelled appearance on “Britain’s Got Talent” had made her world famous and sent her on the way to having one of the fastest-selling albums ever, on both sides of the Atlantic.

Talk about a real-life Rise of Little Voice...

It was the fuss about Boyle’s BGT audition that made Elaine C Smith — the star and co-writer of this show — get writing, and the result is an unashamed fan-fest.

That’s not exactly hindered by its “official” status, with Boyle herself appearing right at the end to sing her trademark “Les Mis” song and “Who I was Born to Be” — and clearly the product of a strong makeover and some presentation tuition in the intervening years.

The musical, it has to be admitted, has its moments, caused partly by a songlist that rises far beyond the usual run of jukebox musicals: Janis Ian, the Rolling Stones, the Gershwins and Lou Reed among them.

Smith plays Boyle without great nuance but sings just as strongly, if in a slightly softer, more theatrical style.

The thing about Susan Boyle is that she got her break because of our love for an underdog, and she has learned fast how to cope with the fame.

So the evening remains a little incongruous: for much of the second half we hear how nervous Boyle is about performing rather than recording; about how she collapsed under the pressure and so on.

But then Boyle comes on, clearly loves the adulation and shows none of the nervous silliness of her early days.

Though it’s easy to criticise the linear nature of the story and of the storytelling — the show is more a sort of Smith monologue with dramatised excerpts from an all-purpose and hard-working cast — the truth is that the story itself currently transcends critical reaction.

It’s a show created — and created well, with a lively set and great musical accompaniment — for fans and loved by fans, as the standing ovation for Smith, and then for Boyle herself, proves.