****

Deepdene School’s Bugsy Malone was a win-win. A winning piece and a winner.

Bugsy Malone was after all written for children and Deepdene didn’t disappoint in delivering brilliantly choreographed chaos – no mean feat for a bunch of seven to 11-year-olds.

Hats off to director Zoe Ash and her choreographer Ellie Marshall, who kept the movement relatively simple, yet with a fabulous soundtrack played by Nadia Bunker (keyboards), Darius Behdad (guitar) and Alex Barron (drums), the whole package was great.

Bugsy Malone is a slapstick spoof of 1930s gangland America, set in New York, and the Rialto provided a perfect location – a (very hot) hotspot.

The cast sweated it out. Lewis Prescott shone as Bugsy Malone, especially when using a microphone in Down And Out while Isabel Brice sang adorably as Blousey Brown.

My Name Is Tallulah was foxily delivered by Mollie Bishop – mind out Jodie Foster – and Baby Face was the genuine article.

It’s unfair to single out cast members – what made the evening so special was the entire troupe set against projected shots of old New York.

The finale was a show-stopper.

Louise Flind