The Naughty Carriage on the Orphan Train at Birmingham Hippodrome - Review

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Sun 25 May 2025 - Tue 27 May 2025

Birmingham Hippodrome showcases this new musical featuring a host of young performers from across the West Midlands on stage at the venue’s Patrick Studio.

The Naughty Carriage on the Orphan Train premiered in a shorter form at Dundee Rep in 2023 but has been redeveloped and expanded for this current production. Featuring nearly 40 British Youth Music Theatre actors from across the West Midlands, the production aims to develop and highlight their talents.



The story is based on true events in the USA when for around 70 years young orphans were paraded up and down the country by train in the hope families would take them in and offer them a home. While the inspiration for this idea may have come from the hope of providing a better future, the system was open to abuse and many of the orphans were taken in more as workers than children.

Written by Luke Saydon and Carl Miller, The Naughty Carriage on the Orphan Train takes this scenario as an inspiration but then turns the spotlight on the fates of a group of children - some who are taken in by families and others who aren’t.

The show has been written to give lots of the cast their moment centre stage, often as part of a musical number, so the story is a little raggedy around the edges. It feels like it has sacrificed a solid narrative to showcasing the young people’s talents but it does allow space for so many young people to have speaking and singing parts.

The lead roles are two orphans who take opposing views on how to find happiness. There is Appoline, played by Eiry Shi, who follows the conventional route of smile and look helpful, and then there is Champ, played by Blaize Middleton, who believes loving families are there for the taking.

There are also plenty of fun roles such as Nour Hassan’s well-meaning Edna, Phoebe McFadden and Darcey Oswin as former showbiz sisters Fidget and Bridget and Nicholas Ladd’s Bruce who is so desperate to find a happy family he will resort to subterfuge.



But in many ways, it is the cast as a whole and the big ensemble pieces that steal the show. There are plenty of songs in which the young people excel while Ash Mukherjee’s choreography keeps them on their toes. The set, designed by Claire Nicoll, takes us inside the train and onto the station platforms while ensuring plenty of space for the dancing.

Directed by Emily Gray, The Naughty Carriage on the Orphan Train was devised in collaboration with young people with lived experience of the care system and it aims to put the children’s experiences and responses at the heart of the story. At times it feels like a soup of Annie, Oliver! and Matilda, and just as in these shows, it ensures the audience is rooting for the youngsters and hoping that ultimately the naughty carriage will take them on a journey to happiness.

A fun show bursting with young talent, The Naughty Carriage on the Orphan Train plays Birmingham Hippodrome’s Patrick Studio until 27 April, see here for more information and tickets.

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