In common with its central character, The Goodbye Girl has been around the block a few times since it left the pen of New York writer Neil Simon as a forgettable film with the unpromising title Bogart Slept Here. The reworked and retitled screen version starring Richard Dreyfus was, of course, an enormous hit, though its stage reincarnation sank into the Broadway mire, only to be resurrected last year, after a conversation at Edgbaston cricket ground between producer Paul Elliott and entertainer Gary Wilmot.
After mixed reviews in the West End it is now on tour around the UK, emerging from yet more editing and pruning with flying colours. Far removed from the traditionally two-dimensional storylines of big, brash American musicals, this intimate little tale of how ex-dancer Paula McFadden and her daughter Lucy survive a string of fickle men and find true family love with wacky actor Elliott Garfield, has real substance and lump-in-the-throat significance. Composer Marvin Hamlisch and lyricist Don Black have written seven new songs, which capture both the pathos and the madness of this see-saw love affair, in which Wilmot and Marti Webb are a cracking partnership.
In the role of Paula, Ms Webb gives a bravely flawed and wholly believeable performance as a 39-year-old woman who believes her looks, body and love life have passed their sell-by date. Wilmot delivers a consummately assured package of song, dance, humour and tenderness, while Lauren Green is perfectly cast as Lucy, an 11-going-on-30-year-old New Yorker, whose tough talking belies her childlike desire for a dad from whose shoulders she can see the world.
Runs at the Belfast Grand Opera House until Saturday, June 16th. To book phone (01232) 241919.
