In 2007, the surprise multi-Oscar winner at the 79th Academy Awards ceremony was the off-beat, laugh-out-loud comedy Little Miss Sunshine.
This hilarious story, about a family on life’s winding road who realise sometimes you have to pull over and change direction, has now been adapted for the musical stage.
Through the Tony Award-winning team of James Lapine and William Finn we meet the Hoover family who are looking for brighter days. Richard, the father, is a floundering motivational speaker, Grandpa’s been kicked out of his retirement home and Uncle Frank’s been dumped by his boyfriend. Moody teenager, Dwayne, has taken a vow of silence, and overextended mum, Sheryl, can do little more than slap on a smile. But, when the youngest Hoover… energetic Olive, enters a regional children’s beauty pageant, the family thinks that their luck could change and embarks on a cross-country trek, chasing the coveted title of “Little Miss Sunshine.”
This production by the excellent Theatre Hawke’s Bay is an outrageously funny and surprisingly touching musical. We’ll enjoy dinner at the flash new premises of Clubs Hastings, which is just around the corner from the theatre. Come and join us for an evening of hilarity and poignancy, laughter & the odd tear. Musical theatre at its best.
