Jump

A boy is sitting on a ledge – is he going to jump? And if so, why? A tabloid journalist wants to know all the important questions before Danny goes for it and takes the plunge.
With a minimal, but inventive and versatile set, Jump the musical deals with the usual issues: love, lost, family… and though it seems to try and say new things about them, it doesn’t manage to say much at all.
Through a series of flashbacks, we get to meet Danny’s close family, and how each one of them tries to drive him towards a life he might not have wanted to start with. Though the characters are charming enough, they are more caricatures than actual living and breathing beings, and as such the audience is never really drawn into their world.
In saying that, Jump is more interested in amusing and entertaining, and the whole show is played out for laughs. The musical numbers don’t really help much, with some tunes existing for the sole purpose of bringing in more laughs (like the curry song) rather than moving the story forwards. The rest of them, meanwhile – some duets and solo acts – are just not strong enough to be memorable.
The cast does give its best, though, and they don’t disappoint, but it is ultimately down to a forgettable storyline that this production fails to truly soar above the rest.

3/5

Adrian G. Velazquez