Review: BRONCO BILLY at The Charing Cross Theatre, London

Photo credit: The Other Richard

Date: 31st January 2024

Seat: M6 (Stalls)

Tickets: Gifted

Rating: 3 Stars 

Adapting older movies into musicals seems to be a trend these days, some with better results than others, and Bronco Billy, with a book by Dennis Hackin and music and lyrics by Chip Rosenbloom and John Torres (with additional lyrics by Michele Brourman), is one of the better ones – if anything, it’s improved the film and made it a lot more enjoyable for everyone, which is something every audience member is sure to appreciate. 

The main word that can be used to describe Bronco Billy is fun. It’s wild and wacky and loud and bright, and there are some wonderful characters and some lovely songs, but really when you leave, it’s the fun you’ve had that stays with you, and that’s no bad thing – if you’re feeling a bit down because January lasted for sixty billion months and you need a quick pick-me-up, Bronco Billy might just do the trick. 

The story is about a travelling circus of misfits, led by Bronco Billy himself, who are struggling to make ends meet but who have one last chance to make it big – there’s an audition for a TV show they have to get to in California. In the meantime, heiress Antoinette Lily has just inherited a huge fortune and an entire chocolate bar company from her father, and her stepmother, husband, and lawyer are all out to get her; if they bump her off within 30 days, the money goes to them. Lily-Rose (as she decides to rename herself) and Billy meet by chance, and he offers her a safe place to stay (although he doesn’t know who she really is or what she’s running from) – you can probably guess the rest. It’s a fairly thin story with all the elements you’d expect to be there for what is, when you boil it down, a romantic comedy, but that’s okay; it’s good to have something familiar and positive playing out in front of you, and Bronco Billy is both of those things. 

Photo credit: The Other Richard

The music is a mixture of disco (the story is set in 1979, after all), pop, and country, and it works well with a couple of instant earworms, including the catchy “Tomorrow Starts Today” and the recurring “Ride With Us.” The music happily captures the mood of whatever’s on stage and takes us along quite nicely with the flow of the story most of the time – but not always, and that’s my slight issue with the show, which I’ll come to shortly. 

The set design by Amy Jane Cook was superb, and it added an element to Bronco Billy that took it up a level. The main set piece is Billy’s bus, a lumpy old truck that’s seen better days and that the troupe calls home. With a clever use of a revolve, this bus is essentially everything we see on stage – it’ll turn 180 degrees and become a hotel room, turn again and become a stage, turn once more, and it’s the backlot of a TV studio, and so on. With just one (albeit fairly large) piece of set that does so much, the danger is that it won’t do enough, but in this case, that old bus and everything in it works perfectly. 

The performances in Bronco Billy were truly exceptional, and special mention must go to Victoria Hamilton-Barritt as the evil stepmother, Constance. She was delightfully camp and gorgeously nasty, and her songs were comedic highlights; things certainly did get a lot more entertaining whenever she was on stage. Tarinn Callender was Bronco Billy, and his smooth and soulful voice did a lot to make the character a loveable one. Billy is a stubborn man, but his heart is in the right place, and Callender’s portrayal makes him vulnerable and charming – a fantastic combination. 

The standout for me, however, was Emily Benjamin as Antoinette/Lily. I loved her energy and enthusiasm, and I loved her songs. I thought she managed to give us a stellar performance despite everything that was happening around her, and that wouldn’t have been an easy thing to do. 

Photo credit: The Other Richard

This leads me to my problem with Bronco Billy. As I said above, I do have a slight gripe, which prevented me from loving the show as much as I wanted to (although that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it – I definitely did). This is a comedy, and it really is very funny at times, especially when Victoria Hamilton-Barritt is camping it up. However, it’s also a love story, and there are some tender moments that play out beautifully. And then there are moments that should be moving the story forward – the lyrics and music are trying to do just that – but because there’s so much happening all around, it’s very hard to pay proper attention. 

A good example is the scene where Antoinette finds herself in a cornfield and is singing a heartfelt number about being lost and sad and having to essentially fight for her life. Behind her, there are some stalks of corn on a platform with wheels, and they’re being pushed across the stage so that wherever she is, they’re behind her. That’s funny – I liked it. But then she starts to move faster, and the corn can’t keep up, and now we’ve got laughter over the top of the lyrics and a big moving distraction on the stage. And that’s not the only scene where something like that happened. 

I like comedy. I like musicals. I like it when they combine. But I also like to be able to focus on a performance, and in a few scenes, I just couldn’t do it. That’s a shame, as some of the best performances were lost to sight gags and (not always functioning) props. 

However, overall, Bronco Billy is a bit of a silly treat, with some outlandish characters and an uncomplicated story told with catchy tunes and a lot of humour. It’s certainly worth a watch. 

Bronco Billy plays at the Charing Cross Theatre until 7th April: https://www.broncobillymusical.com/