‘I’ve had many a dream to squander’, sings Miss Hope Springs in a warm, rich timbre as she takes her station behind the piano at the beginning of the show, and it doesn’t take long for you to believe her. Ty Jeffries stars in this one wo/man act, touted as a musical comedy cabaret but really much more than that- the show is all at once a tribute act, a follow-up, an indulgence, and simply an evening at the pleasure of Hope Springs (the clue is in the name).
Washed-up cabaret chanteuse Hope, recently jilted by her husband Irving and successfully escaped to Paris in her winnebago in search of a new life, recounts for us her story and ongoing struggles in between cute, witty and memorable little numbers. Son of the late Lionel Jeffries, Ty is clearly a chip off the old block and no stranger to the glitz and glam of the stage. Hope is no different- all feather and sequins, lip liner and heavy mascara, she has led a life in the spotlight. In a delightfully sordid tale of casual sex, indecent, wanton exposure and murderous jealousy, Hope runs through the songs and hosts like a natural.
The humour is fast, ribald and set to Hope’s personal take on life- in spite of all that befalls her, twice she trills, ‘Live, laugh, love and be happy’. Some of the jokes fall flat, but even these are carried off by Hope’s character and you can’t help letting it slide until the next gag or song, never far behind. To say anymore about the characters that populate the story and cause her so much heartache would be to spoil it, but rest assured Jean-Jacques and Fifi the Russian bodybuilder in particular have their moments.
In one sense, it’s hard to know where Ty Jeffries ends and Miss Hope Springs begins. She bawdily recounts an ‘audition’ with Gene Kelly and drops a dozen more names. His programme biography sees him tapping down Sunset Boulevard with Fred Astaire, modeling for Jean Paul Gaultier and befriending Andy Warhol.
Although we’re under no illusion as to which of the two is the real star, a certain blurring of them has become inked and fixed. Hope has even been released from the confinement of the stage- her website reads, ‘Miss Hope Springs is available for private parties, weddings and bar mitzvahs.’ It seems she is less an alter ego and more of a complementary identity for the man himself. Hope Springs isn’t the only one with a new life. Like all the best character comics, Ty is in danger of becoming trapped inside Miss Hope Springs- but then, with such a sunny outlook on life, that doesn’t seem like such a bad place to be.
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