Little Voice has such a big heart

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Manchester Opera House

THE difficulty with staging “Little Voice” is attempting to eclipse the iconic performances that made the 1998 film version a hit.

Who better to take the helm of that task than the Olivier Award-winning play’s creator Jim Cartwright, who has stepped into the shoes of director to bring the production back to the way he originally envisaged it.

Acclaimed actors Jane Horrocks, Brenda Blethyn, Michael Caine and Ewan McGregor made the characters their own in the movie.

Indeed the role of Little Voice, or LV, was written for Horrocks in Cartwright’s first script, based around her vulnerability and astonishing ability to recreate the timeless voices of Marilyn Monroe, Edith Piaf, Judy Garland, Shirley Bassey and even our Cilla.

Here, with a CV including “Dead Ringers” and “The Impressions Show”, Jess Robinson has the skills to pull off the mimicry and a great voice to do the impersonations justice.

She also manages to capture the awkward, crippling shyness of LV that made Horrocks’ performance so heart-melting.

The scene where she transforms from tongue-tied teenager to strutting diva is a show stealer but I suspect the big draw will be Corrie favourite Beverley Callard — who played the Street’s Liz McDonald for 21 years — as the foul-mouthed, larger than life mother with no discernible parenting-skills Mari Hoff.

She throws herself into the role with the gusto it needs and deserves, bringing the house down with slapstick antics and her delivery of razor-sharp lines.

Simon Thorp captures both the charisma and callousness of sleazy impresario Ray Say, while Ray Quinn — best know for prancing on blades in “Dancing on Ice” and warbling middle-of-the-road pop hits on “The X Factor” — does a reasonable job in the underwritten role of Billy, the pining love interest acting as LV’s soulmate and saviour. The story revolves around Ray believing he’s hit the big time when he stumbles upon LV’s talents, while her good-time mother Mari convinces herself she’s finally met the man who will permanently whisk her off her feet.

Will the reluctant LV be able to perform in front of an audience? Will the trio be rescued from their humdrum, working-class existence and swept to stardom? Will they ever fix the blinking electrics?

This being a play fully grounded in its gritty northern roots, the answers are not as straightforward as you’d expect and there are tears along the way — though the production is mainly played for laughs, saving the emotion for the finale.

It runs until Saturday, May 4.