Jamie MacDougall Photo by Alan Peebles

Jamie MacDougall plays Sir Harry with the air of a true stage professional who is not above teasing his interviewer, jocularly laying down the law for his accompanist and letting the audience know that if we need to take some of his recollections with a grain of salt, it is only as seasoning to a tale that sometimes surprises even Sir Harry himself. In addition, MacDougall can deliver a song like "I Love a Lassie" with a twinkle in his eye that nicely demonstrates how Sir Harry must have charmed his audience while giving the song a significance in the story itself.

Musically, Lauder is very well served by the piano accompaniment of music director Derek Clark who leaves the focus on Sir Harry but has his own amusing moments as a rather blasé music hall musician at the start of the show. Clark and MacDougall's renditions put heart into the Lauder repertory, running through the hits such as "Stop Your Tickling Jock" and "The End of the Road" as Sir Harry creates them, sells them, and even allows the numbers to reflect on the hardest times of his life.

While Sir Harry does have a very interesting story to tell, Kally Lloyd-Jones directs and choreographs the show to give it an energy and flow that hooks the audience and makes it far more than just a man singing and talking about himself. Admittedly, I could question the wisdom of starting Lauder off with the newsreel of his 1950 funeral. I understand that today's audiences might need to be clued in on Sir Harry's past fame, but it is does make for a somber opening. We are just very fortunate that, when MacDougall's Sir Harry takes his place in the middle of Janis Hart's very effective and deceptively basic music hall set, this lugubrious moment is simply and successfully paid no notice.

Of course, Sir Harry was identified by his omnipresent Scottish kilt and twisted walking stick, and Janis Hart successfully supplies not only his unique look, but also the period costumes of a well-off man of the theatre. David Cunningham's lighting and projections are another major factor in providing the music hall and memory nature of the show.

Lauder is a pleasantly satisfying introduction to a larger-than-life character who has been sadly forgotten. There is clearly more to his story that we might want to see, and certainly more songs to enjoy, but isn't "Always leave them wanting more" the credo of enjoyable theater?