From the archive, 23 May 1980: Barnardo at the Royalty
Originally published in the Guardian on 23 May 1980Written, composed and directed by Ernest Maxin (to whom we raise our hatchets), Barnardo at the Royalty is everything one expects a British musical to be: a collection of familiar-sounding tunes and empty lyrics tethered to a book deprived of wit or logic. Songbook, A Night in the Ukraine and Talent were recent shining exceptions to the rule, but here we are back wit…