''Only Fools and Horses The Musical'' is a 2019 British romantic comedy

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

with book, music and lyrics by Paul Whitehouse and Jim Sullivan, and additional music by Chas Hodges and John Sullivan. It is based on John Sullivan's BBC television sitcom of the same name which ran from 1981 to 2003. The musical premiered at the

Theatre Royal Haymarket The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foot ...

in February 2019 and played for over 1,000 performances until the end of April 2023.

Plot

The story compresses 22 years and 64 episodes of the show into a two-hour tale in which Rodney and Cassandra are making wedding preparations, Boycie and Marlene are trying to conceive, and Del Boy goes to a dating agency looking for a "sort" and ends up with Raquel. It includes classic routines from the TV show such as Del Boy falling through the bar and Rodney trying to explain to Trigger that his name is not Dave.

Production history

World premiere: West End (2019–2023)

A musical adaptation of the popular sitcom '' Only Fools and Horses'' was initially announced to be coming to the West End on October 8, 2018 and would be produced by Phil McIntyre Entertainments and written by Paul Whitehouse and Jim Sullivan. The initial casting announced Paul Whitehouse playing the role of Grandad, Tom Bennett as Del Boy and Ryan Hutton as Rodney. The musical was announced to have its first preview on February 8, 2019. The musical made its world premiere at the

on 9 February 2019, before opening officially on February 19, 2019. The production was directed and choreographed by Caroline Jay Ranger, with musical supervision, orchestrations and arrangements by Stuart Morely. Set and costume were designed by Liz Ascroft, with lighting design by Richard G Jones and Sound Design by Rory Madden. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confir ...

mandating the closure of all theatres, the production was forced to take a lengthy hiatus. It reopened on October 1, 2021. The production closed on April 29, 2023 after over 1000 performances, making it the longest-running production in the Theatre Royal Haymarket's history.

UK and Ireland tour (2024-25)

On October 27, 2023, it was announced that the musical would begin a UK and Ireland tour on September 23, 2024 at the

Churchill Theatre The Churchill Theatre in Bromley, southeast London was built by the London Borough of Bromley to designs by its borough architect's department. The Churchill is an example of a repertory theatre built in the style of European opera houses, wit ...

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

, touring until July 5, 2025. It will also include a Christmas season at the

Hammersmith Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ham ...

from December 17, 2024 until January 5, 2025. Whitehouse will reprise his role as Grandad at certain venues, including the London season.

Musical numbers

Original West End Production

Act I

* "Prologue – O Furtuna" – Orchestra ''(From Carmina Burana by Carl Orff)'' ** Replaced by Only Fools and Horses Overture in 2022 * "His Name is Derek Trotter" – Cripps & Ensemble ''(Music & Lyrics by Paul Whitehouse and Chas Hodges)'' * "Only Fools and Horses/Hooky Street" – Del Boy, Rodney & Ensemble ''(Music & Lyrics by John Sullivan, Additional Lyrics by Jim Sullivan)'' * "Not Now Grandad" – Del Boy, Rodney & Grandad ''(Music & Lyrics by Paul Whitehouse)'' * "That's What I Like" – Ensemble ''(Music & Lyrics by Chas Hodges and Dave Peacock)'' * "Where Have All The Cockneys Gone?" – Grandad & Ensemble ''(Music & Lyrics by Paul Whitehouse and Chas Hodges)'' * "The Girl" – Raquel ''(Music & Lyrics by Jim Sullivan, Additional Lyrics by Paul Whitehouse)'' * "Mange Tout" – Del Boy & Dating Agent ''(Music & Lyrics by Paul Whitehouse)'' * "Bit of a Sort" – Del Boy & Dating Agent ''(Music & Lyrics by Jim Sullivan)'' * "Raining for Grandad" – Grandad ''(Music by Jim Sullivan, Lyrics by Paul Whitehouse)'' * "Being a Villain" – Danny Driscoll & Tony Driscoll ''(Lyrics by Paul Whitehouse, Music by Paul Whitehouse and Stuart Morely)'' * "Lovely Day" – Del Boy, Raquel, Grandad & Ensemble ''(Music & Lyrics by Bill Withers & Skip Scarborough)''

Act II

* "Marriage & Love" – Rodney & Cassandra ''(Music & Lyrics by Paul Whitehouse)'' * "West End Wendy" – Del Boy, Raquel & Ensemble ''(Lyrics by Paul Whitehouse, Music by Paul Whitehuse and Stuart Morely)'' * "What have I let myself in for?" – Cassandra ''(Music & Lyrics by Paul Whitehouse)'' * "Gaze Into My Ball" – Trigger & Ensemble ''(Lyrics by Paul Whitehouse, Music by Paul Whitehouse and Stuart Morely)'' * "The Tadpole Song" – Boycie & Marlene ''(Music & Lyrics by Jim Sullivan)'' * "Holding Back The Years" – Mrs Obookoo ''(Music & Lyrics by Mick Hucknall & Neil Moss)'' * "Margate" – Ensemble ''(Music & Lyrics by Chas Hodges and Dave Peacock)'' * "This Time Next Year" – Ensemble ''(Music & Lyrics by Chas Hodges and John Sullivan)''

Original cast and characters

*From 2022 All the following played by the same actor - Marlene/Cassandra, Mickey Pearce/Danny Driscoll, Mike The Barman/Tony Driscoll and Dating Agent/Sid

Notable West End replacements

*Grandad: Les Dennis. Andy Mace, who was the original Mike the Barman, later played Grandad. *Raquel:

Ashleigh Gray Ashleigh Gray is a Scottish Actress and Musical Theatre performer best known for playing Elphaba in the London and UK & Ireland touring productions of ''Wicked''. Early life Gray was born in Fife, Scotland and educated at Newbattle Communi ...

Critical reception

Peter Mason in the ''Morning Star'' newspaper described the production as "well conceived, well wrought and, above all, great fun", adding that "in general, the tenor of the stage interpretation is rather more emotional than the TV series, with more pathos and some darker moments."Peter Mason
Review of ''Only Fools and Horses The Musical''
''

Morning Star Morning Star, morning star, or Morningstar may refer to: Astronomy * Morning star, most commonly used as a name for the planet Venus when it appears in the east before sunrise ** See also Venus in culture * Morning star, a name for the star Siri ...

'', 2019.

Web Web most often refers to: * Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal * World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to: Computing * WEB, a literate programming system created by ...

. Retrieved on 29 September 2019.

References

External links

* {{Only Fools and Horses 2019 musicals Only Fools and Horses Musicals based on television series British musicals West End musicals Musicals set in London