Review: Here You Come Again (Riverside Studios / UK Tour)

Review by Daz Gale

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Someone big, loud, and colourful is coming to town. No, it’s not Santa Claus just yet – I’m of course talking about Dolly Parton who arrives in London in a bid to show us the true meaning of Christmas. Well camp as Christmas, that is. Becoming the final London press night of 2024, what a way to mark my final review of the year than by enjoying a bit of much-needed fun but would the London run of Here You Come Again give me a Holly Dolly Christmas?

Having enjoyed several runs in America, Here You Come Again made its UK debut earlier this year and has spent the best part of 2024 touring up and down the country. It settles into London for a festive season at Riverside Studios before hitting the road again in 2025. Set in the dark days of 2020, 40-year-old Kevin has moved in to his parent's attic to isolate during Covid. Struggling with a lack of purpose, a career that hasn’t taken off as he hoped, and a messy break-up, it is up to a visit from a guardian angel to help get him through. Who better to be his angel than his favourite singer – Dolly Parton?

Written by Bruce Vilanch, Gabriel Barre, and Tricia Paoluccio (who also stars), Here You Come Again doesn’t attempt to be the most intellectual story in the world, but instead does all it can to put a smile on the face of its audience, feeling very much in keeping with the legendary star featuring in the show. There are also a smattering of musical theatre references to enjoy with additional material from Jonathan Harvey making the whole thing more British, filling it with humour and references that wouldn’t make much sense across the pond. The result is a story that is joyous and uplifting but also incredibly relatable.

Frequently laugh-out-loud funny and full of the kind of joy you long for in this season,  there is also a deeper message hidden deep underneath the rhinestones of Here You Come Again with a surprising element to the story that connected with me and my own personal situation. I long for any form of connection when it comes to theatre, and sometimes it can be found in the most unlikely of places – I didn’t expect it in a Dolly Parton musical but here we are. Whether you are a fan of Dolly or not (how could you not be?), anyone who has ever idolised any iconic female singer will find something familiar in the story here, with many people (ok, gay men) having found solace in these legendary singers’ music. The story of this simply amplifies what it means to be a guardian angel in this respect and makes it very much literal… in Kevin’s fantasies, at least.

If you hadn’t guessed, Here You Come Again is a jukebox musical, named after one of Dolly Parton’s most iconic hits and cramming the show full of her other classics including ‘Jolene’ and ‘9 To 5’. There will always be an element of shoehorning songs in to fit the story with varying degrees of clumsiness when it comes to the majority of jukebox musicals, and of course that is the case here – not very subtle but then again, it never intends to be and everything works. Kevin’s over-the-top accompaniment to ‘Jolene’ and a fourth-wall obliterating ‘Islands In The Stream’ are very much “stuck in your bedroom singing into your hairbrush fantasy” sequences but it oddly works. When it comes to Dolly saying goodbye to Kevin, ‘I Will Always Love You’ fits perfectly with a beautifully poignant performance that made me oddly emotional.

I can’t profess to being the biggest Dolly Parton fan ever and didn’t know every song performed, but whether I could sing them effortlessly at karaoke or was hearing them for the first time, all of the songs stunned, with a particularly gorgeous rendition of ‘God’s Coloring Book’ a surprising but effective highlight. Of course the curtain call features a singalong megamix of Dolly’s greatest hits, but this London run features a Christmas twist. In the interval, I had a conversation about relating to a singer being a guardian angel and said mine would have been Mariah Carey, so having THAT song kick off a Christmas medley in the finale pretty much sealed the deal for me in a show I didn’t expect to connect with so personally.

Co-writer Tricia Paoluccio dons the blonde wig and a couple of other attributes to take on the legendary Dolly Parton. Certainly big shoes to fill but close your eyes and you can pretend Dolly is in front of you, such is the brilliance of her impersonation. With an uncanny singing voice and full of Dolly-isms in her dialogue, Paolucciois a marvel in this role with a twinkle in her eye and a knowing wink to the audience. There is such beauty and fun in her performance – all the while being every bit as camp as you would want from a Dolly musical at Christmas.

Steven Webb is a wonder in the role of Kevin. Fabulously over-the-top and always performing, even when he is seemingly alone in his attic. Behind the performance lies a façade though as he deals with more serious matters and Webb brilliantly navigates this to tease Kevin’s walls coming down before promptly putting them up again. In what could be a one-note caricature role, Webb finds hidden depth to it in a performance full of charisma that is always delightful to watch.

Co-writer Gabriel Barre directs Here You Come Again with fun and flare, with an expertly realised set recreating Kevin’s parents’ attic, designed by Paul Wills, giving plenty for both Dolly and Kevin to play around with. Household props assist with performances and there are some hilarious references to all we had to do while isolating four years ago, bringing a sense of recent nostalgia and encouraging the audience to laugh at what was a difficult time for many of us, while never making light of the situation itself. Lizzie Gee’s choreography helps bring the musical numbers to life while an added element of illusions from Richard Pinner brings us theatrical magic in more ways than one.

For me, the best kinds of theatre are the shows that manage to penetrate your heart effortlessly, and Here You Come Again did that in ways I was not prepared for. Fun, funny, feel-good and fabulous, this show is the perfect vaccine for anybody struggling this festive season. Every bit as camp as you’d want… and then some, this is a musical many can find enjoyment in. One thing’s for sure though – one visit is not enough and I need to find time to come again.

Here You Come Again plays at Riverside Studios until 18th January 2025.

Tickets available here

It then continues its UK tour in 2025 – dates and tickets at https://hereyoucomeagain.co.uk/

Photos by Hugo Glendinning