42 Balloons

Review of 42 Balloons at The Lowry, Salford.

On seeing an online video of Larry Walters flying in a lawn chair over Los Angeles held aloft by a load of balloons, Jack Godfrey didn’t just think OMG – his overriding thought was “THIS IS A MUSICAL!”

Six years later, Godfrey has written that dream into a reality – and if you think Walters’ gravity-defying journey sounds a total blast, wait until you’ve experienced 42 Balloons.

Everything is sung – dialogue, scene-setting, narrative, commentary – everything! One minute the performers are reminding you it’s a true story, and that you can look it up online – the next they’re getting a cheeky disclaimer in, “we think this is how it started, but we’re not sure”. Yet there’s an easy, chatty style to it all, not contrived or over-facing, just fun and friendly.

At the heart of the show is the love affair between Larry Walters and his partner Carol Van Deusen. Outwardly, their first chance encounter is a collision of awkward conversation and terrible dancing – but their duet Up In The Air, a euphoric rush of emotion, tells another story.

At first, not everyone is enthusiastic about their relationship, or Larry’s flight plans.

Gillian Hardie, stirring a dash of rocket fuel into the mix as Carol’s mom, provides one of the show’s stand out moments, as she powers her way through a soulful and pleasingly tart warning about the perils of her daughter “losing [herself] in somebody’s story.”

Eventually, even she gets caught up in his crazy scheme, and with the help of Larry’s friend Ron (Lejaun Sheppard), not to a mention Carol’s efforts to secure the necessary funding, his plans are finally ready for take-off.

Charlie McCullagh is very likeable, as the determined, if not necessarily dynamic Larry. After “watching the horizon run and run” at 16,000 feet over LA, things quickly come back down to earth for him with a bump.

In an interesting twist, 42 Balloons uses its second half to reflect on the turbulent fallout from the escapade, as the story of ‘Lawn Chair Larry’ takes on a life of its own.

Glowing with positive energy, Evelyn Hoskins’ Carol is the show’s emotional anchor – supporting Larry’s ambitions, taking out a loan to help him, and then left to pick up the pieces. Hoskins’ beautifully delivered performance of Helium, a towering Disney-princess-meets-Eurovision-style ballad, shimmers with heartbreak and regret.

Musically, the show is infused with the sounds of the 80s, encompassing a deliciously wide range of reference points – from synth-pop, to Jim Steinman, and even The Sugarhill Gang. Hook-filled, Godfrey’s songs are designed for immediate impact, with the frequent use of refrain helping several of them lodge on repeat in the memory.

The smooth white curves of Milla Clarke’s set elevate the staging, incorporating slopes and small perches upon which the energetic ensemble can neatly wrap themselves around the central performance. Its balloon-like outline isn’t just an allusion to Larry’s obsession – creating a tight intimate space at its base, it subtly embraces Larry and Carol’s touching first dance, as well as ramping up the impact of the dynamic big ensemble numbers that pepper the production.

Constantly nudging the performers closer to the audience at stage level, the gently expanding space overhead feels airier, and full of possibilities.

Andrzej Goulding’s inventive video design makes smart, and often amusing, use of the elegant backdrop (the disorientating live camerawork during Larry’s appearance on Letterman felt very Ivo van Hove) – while Bruno Poet doesn’t go for half-measures with the lighting, serving up full-beam stadium-size dazzle at key moments.

42 Balloons is bright and breezy, glossy on the surface, but with a lot of character – and it’s wrapped up in a high-quality production that’s been put together with real care and attention.

Its underlying upbeat theme of hold on to your dreams (“if you want it, you can get it all”) is tempered by a cautionary recognition that sometimes you should be careful what you wish for.

As Larry discovered, what goes up, must usually come down – but for now, it’s hard to imagine Jack Godfrey’s sparkling new musical heading in any direction other than skyward, to increasingly dizzy heights.

The Lowry.

Performance seen on 3 May 2024.

42 Balloons runs from 18 April to 19 May 2024.

Images by  Pamela Raith.