UK Theatre Network

The great thing about being a reviewer for the Waterside is the chance to watch some classical theatre shows, such as the National Theatre’s recent production of Travelling Light with Sir Anthony Sher, An Inspector Calls and The Russian State Ballet of Siberia.  So, purely in the interest of checking out the artistic merit you understand, I went along to see The Dreamboys with my friend Tricia.  I’d warned her that she may need to take some smelling salts along, lest the sight of semi-naked men proved too much!

As expected, the auditorium was filled with groups of girls out for a good night to celebrate birthdays or hen parties.  The atmosphere was filled with energy and anticipation and the buzz of excitement was audible.  The show was 20 minutes late starting as girls were still filtering in, but it did nothing to dampen their enthusiasm.

The compere (who didn’t introduce himself) opened the show singing Mysterious Girl and proceeded to do a 25 minute warm-up act, which at times felt a bit like panto dividing the audience to see who could scream the loudest.  Really this could have been cut down to about 10 minutes as it did feel as though the show was being padded out. 

Women have been stripping and tantalising men for centuries of course and in 1979, The Chippendales became the first all-male stripping troupe to make a business performing for mostly female audiences. Through the quality of its staging and choreography, The Chippendales also helped legitimize stripping as a form of popular entertainment.

This is all about having fun and The Dreamboys aim to help the girls live out some of their fantasies with a range of stereotypical characters taking their clothes off.  There’s the fireman, of course, the guys in leather, the Matrix look, a 70s outfit with afro wig (though whose fantasy that would be I’m not quite sure?) and a group of soldiers in combat gear.

A little confusingly the compere asked the audience to think of a film with an iconic uniform and we immediately shouted out ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’.  However, he then talked about Tom Cruise and some of his films, including Cocktail, which led us to think we’d be seeing pilot uniforms from Top Gun.  Out walked the guys in naval uniforms, replicating Richard Gere’s uniform from An Officer and a Gentleman.  I wondered whether he’d confused the two actors, but it didn’t detract too much from the eye candy.

The compere had promised this would be a ‘naughty show’ and the second half involved some audience participation that would have had Mary Whitehouse turning in her grave!  If I say that water, oil, cream, handcuffs, eye masks and towels were all involved then I’ll leave the rest to your imagination!

The show calls itself ‘The Dreamboys – Full Frontal’ and we were expecting to be teased throughout the show until there would be a final quick flash and blackout at the end, as per The Full Monty.  That didn’t happen, but a Dreamboy called ‘Stallion’ provided some amusing entertainment with cream and what appeared to be a rubber appendage, shall we say?

The Dreamboys are certainly all very muscular and well toned and Tricia, as a masseuse, said ‘it’s an interesting study of the human anatomy, particularly with the v-shaped muscles around the tops of the thighs’.

On a theatrical note, I would say that the show wasn’t as slick as it should have been with time lapses between entrances and exits and people mooching off rather than existing snappily.  The comedy could have been a lot more defined and I felt the show really needed a good director to tighten up in these areas and make it more professional. The choreography was good though, especially the fire dance and some of the boys were very athletic and good movers.

The show is what it is though, an opportunity for girls to get out, ogle some hunky muscular oiled up men and have a good laugh.  It certainly made a change and put a smile on our faces and with all the bad news and weather, then why not?

For more info visit www.dreamboystour.co.uk
Tour dates:
Thursday 3rd May 2012
The New Wimbledon Theatre - Wimbledon
Box Office: 0844 871 7607
Friday 4th May 2012
The Regent Theatre - Stoke-On-Trent
Box Office: 0844 871 7649
Friday 11th May 2012
The Octagon Theatre - Yeovil
Box Office: 01935 422884
Friday 3rd August 2012
The Beck Theatre - Hayes - Middlesex
Box Office: 0208 561 8371
Friday 7th September 2012
The Cresset Theatre - Peterborough
Box Office: 01733 265705
Friday 14th September 2012
St Georges Concert Hall - Bradford
Box Office: 01274 432000
Friday 21st September 2012
The Wyvern Theatre - Swindon
Box Office: 01793 524481
Friday 28th September 2012
The Embassy Theatre - Skegness
Box Office: 0845 674 0505
Friday 5th October 2012
The Royal Spa Centre - Leamington Spa
Box Office: 0845 218 3540 Or 01926 334418
Friday 12th October 2012
The Cliffs Pavilion Theatre - Southend-On-Sea
Box Office: 01702 351135
For details of the current and new programmes at The Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury:
Box Office:   0844 871 7607 (bkg fee)
Groups Hotline:  0844 871 7614
Access Booking: 0844 871 7677 (bkg fee)
Online Booking: www.atgtickets.com/aylesbury   (bkg fee)

Reviewed by:
Yvonne Delahaye
20.4.2012