Dash of Lime, the 2012 Musical by James Long

Review, The Yorker

‘. . . a quirky yet distinctly Broadway-style musical replete with belting show-stoppers, the plights of love and rather of a lot of references to pot’

‘ . . . the music switches between big-band leg-kicking razzamatazz Broadway and a playfully eccentric complexity, which has echoes, for me, of a slightly untamed Stephen Sondheim . . .’

‘With just a dash of sparkle and professional expertise, Dash of Lime could have more than just a dash of success.’

Dash of Lime, Gallery from 2012 Production

The Story . . .

Cassie Davis and Robert Martez are world-famous, beloved actors. Cassie feels they have become so swept up in their lives, always on show to the public, they have missed out on the things that really matter in life.

She reminds her husband of the daughter they gave up almost twenty years before, and says how she longs to search for her. Robert forbids it, as the circumstances under which they gave up their daughter were dubious at best, and if the press found out about what they did, it would ruin them. Cassie is left with no choice but to go behind his back. She tries to find the least damaging way to contact their daughter . . . 

Enter . . .

Melody Spencer – a stage-hand and general dogsbody for a production company that produce LimeTime, a company run by former opera singer, Raymond Fitz.  When Raymond asks her to help him as his dying wish, she obliges him. Little does she know that her life is about to change forever as secrets from her past come back with a vengeance . . .

Meanwhile . . .

Barbra Kettle is disillusioned about life, stuck in a dull, repetitive job. She was adopted, and has a theory her mother was famous. Her demure nature and sensitivity make her prone to suggestion, and she seeks protection from the world from her creative, excitable and eccentric boyfriend, Matt Humphries.

Matt has written a script, but it is not being noticed because he’s a ‘nobody’ with little education. Armed only with a script he’s written, and buckets of enthusiasm, he sets out to win the Best Newcomer award at the infamous ‘Pritchard’s’.