UK Theatre Network

Sensational and sexy are words that don’t go far enough to describe the spectacular that is Chicago. This truly is an un-missable production.

It tells the story of two murderesses- Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly- who meet in jail, and compete for the attention of their lawyer Billy Flynn, who has the power to make them ‘stars’. They, like all the other women in there, have committed crimes of passion; which adds to their sexiness, and fuels the public’s interest in them.

Emma Barton; best known as the diminutive Honey from Eastenders, wows crowds as Roxie Hart. Her voice is phenomenal, and she captures every note of Kander & Ebb’s numbers perfectly. Strutting the stage in Hart’s sassy manner, she looks as if she was born to dance Fosse. The choreography is slick and spellbinding, and the audience are transfixed, and transported into 1920s America, from the moment the curtain rises.

Another treat is to see Gary Wilmot in the role of lawyer Billy Flynn. He steps into the shoes of this flash, arrogant; but likeable lawyer with such great ease that it’s hard to imagine anyone else ever playing this manipulative showman. At the other end of the spectrum is the shy and retiring Amos; played beautifully by Adam Stafford. Whilst Amos relates himself to cellophane; Stafford is anything but un-noticeable.

The stylish and sleek set; combined with the dark and sexy lighting really set a sizzling mood. It’s all about showbusiness; but lights casting bars across the stage are there to constantly remind us we are on death-row. It’s a hot, emotion-rousing and comedic production. Let it razzle-dazzle you!

 

LISTINGS

Chicago

Mon 5 Oct – Sat 10 Oct

Wed, Thurs 19.30; Fri 17.00 and 20.30; Sat 14.30 and 19.30

Tickets: £19 - £35

Box Office 0844 871 7648 (Bkg fee)

www.ambassadortickets.com/glasgow (Bkg fee)

 

Rocky Horror’s Richard O’Brien presents a new musical based on the work of Pulp Fiction novelist, Carter Brown.

 

Breaking new ground in the world of musical theatre is a tough gig in the 21^st century.  We’ve already covered everything from Cats to Vietnam and cartoons to the Wild West in this popular theatre genre.   Lyricist Richard O’Brien, of Rocky Horror Show fame, has been inspired to put pen to paper with The Stripper to bring the world of the ‘dime novel’ to the musical stage, though, so that alone should be enough for us to sit up and take notice!

 

Lt. Al Wheeler (Jonathan Wrather) struggles to solve the mystery of the death of a wannabe actress.  He is drawn (not unwillingly) into the seedy world of strip joints and lonely hearts clubs as he tracks down the killer.  His key informant is night club stripper, Deadpan Delores (Emma-Jayne Appleyard) but he has no shortage of suspects including club boss, Miles Rovak (James Earl Adair) and dating agency owner Mr Arkwright (played by Richard O’Brien himself).

 

Despite moments of genius, the show didn’t quite hit the mark.  Establishing so many characters as suspects took a great deal of time in the first act.  Music was lively but the atmospheric 6 piece band often drowned out Mr. O’Brien’s lyrics where, I’m sure, lots of comedy value could have been found.  The first act finale, “A Man of Steel”, however, lifted the tempo and left us in no doubt about how firmly the tongue should be placed in cheek.  The improved pace continued into the second act with fabulous numbers like “Let’s Hear It For The Tough Guys”, “I Confess” (hilariously presented by Jack Edwards) and “Planning My Big Exit”.

 

The Pulp Fiction genre was well observed and the 1961 atmosphere was preserved by a catchy score, the practical set and sympathetic lighting (featuring particularly effective blackouts – a long lost art in my book!).  The show was reminiscent of “City of Angels” with its Los Angeles backdrop, gumshoe storyline and (sadly) its lack of broad appeal as the audience was a little thin.  Worthy of the ticket price but could do with a snappier first act.

 

LISTINGS

The Stripper

Tue 29 Sep – Sat 3 Oct

Tue – Sat eves 7.30pm

Wed & Sat mat 2.30pm

Tickets: £12 - £25.50

Box Office 08448 717 648 (Bkg fee)

www.ambassadortickets.com/glasgow (bkg fee)

Review by Laura Pearson.

The B.F.G took to the King's Theatre in Glasgow last night for the first performance of its run in the city providing the audience with a low-quality production.  With a touring production covering major theatre venues one would expect a show with high-production values.  What was witnessed was something that would be more suited to a school hall.  It had all the qualities and charms of a primary school touring production or festival storytelling event and none of the pizzazz that one would expect to come from a major theatrical venue production about a magical giant.

 

It is indeed a storytelling session rather than a play.  Any hopes of entering another world and suspending disbelief are shattered within the first five minutes as the cast announce that they are going to 'pretend' to be giants and tell Roald Dahl's story to us rather than just bring the story to life in a realistic way.

 

The play begins with the birthday party of Sophie and when the booked entertainment doesn't arrive the party guests decide to act out the story of The B.F.G instead using Sophie's costume box.  It's a premise that does not work well at all.  One is aware throughout that we are not indeed watching a giant but that we are watching guests at a birthday party pretending to be giants, hence cutting off any emotional response or captivation from the audience with the material so carefully crafted by Dahl.

 

In the story, a little girl called Sophie is taken from her Orphanage by the Big Friendly Giant and taken to a land where horrible child-eating giants are its citizens. With all the modern theatrical effects that can so easily be achieved this story could have been told in such a realistic, believable and emotion-rousing way.  Instead, what the production provides is a little rag doll called Sophie being held and moved by the adult-sized Sophie at the birthday party.  With her standing next to a regular sized man, who was indeed the father in the birthday party scene, and who has done little to change his appearance except put on a cloak and sandals; one cannot fathom a relationship between a little girl and a giant at all.

 

This is indeed a very low-budget production.  Costume is used very poorly and adds nothing to the atmosphere that the cast are trying to create. The rest of the birthday party guests remain in their own clothes as they put on the heads of giants.  They also play their own instruments providing the soundtrack to the story which only adds to the problem of realism and believability.  The set is also very simple, creating nothing of a magical atmosphere.  The space was not put to good use at all. Flaws in the design are evident right from the start when white rag doll Sophie spends all of her time on a white table making it impossible for the audience to experience the nuances of the doll's movements being made by the adult actor holding her.

 

The cast also do very little to allow us to imagine the characters that they are portraying.  They are all visibly adult actors playing children; and the show's attempts to make this believable aren't pulled off.

 

Children aged five to ten who enjoy being told a story would probably enjoy this. Anyone else should steer clear. It's 'The B.F.G' on a budget. A production that fails either to captivate or enchant.

 

Listings Info:

 

THE BFG

King’s Theatre, Glasgow

1 – 5 September @ 7pm

Tue & Fri @ 7pm

Wed 10.30pm & 5pm

Thu 1.30pm & 5pm

Sat 11am, 2pm & 6pm

Tickets: £10 - £16.50

Box Office 08448 717 648 (Bkg fee)

www.ambassadortickets.com/glasgow (bkg fee)

 

Jolson & Co – The Musical serves up the expected dish of lively jazz and swing music but also hints at a personality darker than the famous face the performer presented to the world.

With 17 instantly recognisable singalong songs backed by the irrepressible personality of Al Jolson (beautifully rendered by Allan Stewart), this production could be nothing other than a huge hit.  Mr. Stewart was expertly supported by Donna Steele and Christopher Howell who, between them, played 17 diverse characters in this elegant three-hander.  Ms Steele is to be particularly lauded for her ability to draw deep emotion from characters who were sometimes on stage for only a few short minutes.  This show is much more than a simple song and dance review as the complex layers of the great man were revealed in a detailed biopic of his remarkable life.

 

Born Asa Yoelson in 1886 in Lithuania, the youngster changed his name to avoid racist taunts as a boy when his family moved to America.  At the tender age of 8, the death of his beloved mother in childbirth had a profound influence on the youngster.  He developed his entertainer talent on the streets taking many queues from the multi-racial background of his fellow urchins.  However, he also developed an alienating perfectionism coupled with a burning desire to satisfy his mother’s ambition for him.  As his fame grew, so did his ego and this destroyed three of his four marriages and many friendships.  Al Jolson died in 1950 a living legend and almost 60 years later his musical genius and his epitaph live on – “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”.

 

This tour has been hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons.  The producers’ decision to present the show without Jolson in his famous “blackface” makeup in order to minimise offence has sparked controversy and press debate.  Jolson (himself credited with championing equality for black Americans) had always declared that he donned the blackface persona to allow him the liberty to express the energy and enthusiasm that his music required – all this at a time when ‘blacked up’ performers were neither unusual nor controversial.  How quickly people forget that Al Jolson’s music and presentation style influenced popular entertainment as recently as the 1978 ‘Minstrel’ TV shows – 92 years after the great man’s birth! This production should, instead, hit the headlines for a flawless performance by Allan Stewart and a gritty and revealing portrayal of the “World’s Greatest Entertainer”.

 

LISTINGS

KING’S THEATRE GLASGOW

Mon 18 – Sat 23 May

Mon – Sat eves 7.30pm

Wed & Sat Mats 2.30pm

Tickets: £12 - £29

Box Office: 0870 060 6648 (bkg)

www.ambassadortickets.com/glasgow  (bkg)

 

In its final dates of this first UK national tour, Witches of Eastwick beguiled the Glasgow audience, who happily fell under the spell!

 

Marti Pellow of Wet Wet Wet fame takes on the demanding role of Darryl Van Horne (created by Jack Nicholson in the 1987 movie) in this musical adaptation of the raunchy 1980s novel.  So, getting to the point, … is Mr. Pellow any good?  He handled the charisma required for Billy Flynn in Chicago and he’s clearly a natural showman but can he really pull off the transformation from Clydebank Soul Singer to Devilish Soul Reaper?  The answer is a resounding “YES” (with deep, booming sound effects - and just a little reverb).  This was a major step up from Mr. Pellow’s previous theatrical roles and he more than met the challenge.  Never dropping character for a second he delivered mile-a-minute dialog with aplomb, leaping from smooth confidence to jittery unease in a schizophrenic heartbeat.  Combined with a physical delivery reminiscent of Jim Carrey, his performance was irresistible.  Marti Pellow may have been cast out from the world of pop, but he reigns supreme in this role.

 

Co-stars Ria Jones, Rebecca Thornhill and Poppy Tierney as witches Alexandra, Sukie and Jane delivered their character transformations brilliantly with vocal talents to match.  The principals were supported by a talented ensemble cast featuring a suitably tortured performance from Rachel Izen as community nay-sayer, Felicia Gabriel.

 

The show is quite traditional in style featuring a chorus opening, character development through song and a traditional walk-down finale (rather than a more ‘modern’ all-singing “megamix”).  But the content is very contemporary with some fairly graphic seduction scenes, some cheeky nudity and plenty of underworld language – not for the faint of heart!  Presentation was superb with beautifully stylised sets, dynamic lighting and well executed flying!  Musical Director, Tom Deering, earned his spotlight with a very animated performance!

 

LISTINGS INFO:

 

Kings Theatre Glasgow

Tue 28 April – Sat 9 May

Mon – Thu eves 7.30pm

Wed 29 April mat 2.30pm

Fri 5pm and 8.30pm

Sat 2.30pm and 7.30pm

Tickets: £12 - £36

Box Office 0870 060 6648 (Bkg)

www.ambassadortickets.com/glasgow (bkg)

 

Horrible Histories (The King's Theatre, Glasgow, until Saturday)

Head on down to the King’s for a helping of Terry Deary’s “history with the horrible bits left in”. Following the huge international success of historian and author Deary’s educational, entertaining and often irreverent children’s book series -and its various merchandising offshoots and subseries - the much loved Horrible Histories has genre hopped, and is currently running as both a touring stage production and a CBBC miniseries.

Adapted for stage by Phil Clark and brought to life by Birmingham Stage Company, the show is a family-friendly mix of education, slapstick humour and, perhaps the most exciting feature for technophiles such as myself, 3D animation (congenially referred to as “Bogglevision” within the show itself and the accompanying programme). As with the book series, the show is a look at the more gruesome and often comical side of history, and it certainly adopts Deary’s penchant for gore and grisliness, with sound effects used throughout for breaking bones, squelching mud, exploding insects and machinegun fire. As an avid childhood Horrible Histories reader myself, I couldn’t help feeling a little let down by the lack of Deary’s usual sarcastic and irreverent humour, as most of the lines which evidently sought laughter would not have seemed out of place being read out over Christmas dinner.

The show is split up into two different performances, each dedicated to a different historical period (much like the books), the periods featured in this case being the “Frightful First World War” and the “Woeful Second World War” (I can’t help thinking that Deary missed a trick with the latter by choosing “woeful” as his adjective, rather than the more alliterative “sorrowful”, but I’m not a best-selling children’s author and world-renowned historian, so who am I to criticise). Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to see the second instalment of the show, and so I can only go on the events of the former.

The action of the ‘play’ followed the protagonist, Anthony, a present day schoolboy (played by Julius Metson Scott, a distinctly adult actor) who had accidentally activated a time machine within his computer, sending him back to the twentieth century to witness the events of the Great War. A mixture of live actors and animation on a projector screen behind them, in addition to the pantomime-esque audience participation, all made this performance a very entertaining one for the large proportion of children in the audience, and a satirical undercurrent kept the interest of most (and I say most as, on my way out from the theatre, I happened to overhear a middle aged couple, apparently accompanying their young grandson, referring to the entire show as ‘utter nonsense’) of the pubescent to adult patrons.

The four-strong cast put in competent performances, and much praise must go to the multi-accented Laura Dalgleish, for her phenomenal stage presence, in a number of guises, hers being the most genuine and entertaining of the characters. Matthew Schmolle was also praiseworthy, as Private Paul Turner, a soldier and journalist, and Ciaran McConville (who, it must be said, gave Bruno Ganz – the phenomenal lead in the recent film of Hitler’s demise – a run for his money in depicting a Hitler-like Germany personification) gave a very vibrant and comical performance.

The only criticisms I could really make of Horrible Histories were the contrived reminders, at regular intervals, of how long left the show had, thinly veiled as the main character’s computer’s attempts to try and transport him back to the current day. A further failing was the surprising disappointment of the 3D aspect of the show, which, whether through the quality of the screen, or that of the 3D glasses, or simply because of the extent of the budget, was blurry and certainly not as realistic as I have come to expect of 3D. The thunderous screaming of the children in the audiences indicated their apparent ignorance of this blatant lack of 3D quality however, so perhaps this is a sign of my age rather than a reflection of the show itself. I’ll leave it up to you...

Listings Info:

Horrible Histories
Frightful First World War
Tues 7pm, Wed, Fri, and Sat 10.30am, Thu 1.30

Woeful Second World War
Wed 1.30pm, Thu 10.30am, Fri 5.30pm, Sat 2.30pm
Box Office – 0870 060 6648
Tickets: £9.50 - £15
www.ambassadortickets.com/glasgow

IN THIS UPDATE

- Join UK Theatre Network
- Doug's Radio Blog
- BAFTA Report
- Casting For Oliver In The West End
- Opportunity for Youth Dance Contact
- Sir Ben Applauds McAvoy

UPCOMING EVENTS

- MusicaliFragilistic - London
- BritBits 5 - New York 
- Dine With Shakespeare - Manchester

MAGAZINE BLOGS

- Madame De Sade - Review by Elspeth Rae
- Jolson & Co - Review By Steve Burbridge
- Be Near Me - Review by John Sinclair 
- Waiting For Godot - Review by John Sinclair 
- Little Shop Of Horrors - Review By Steve Burbridge
- Hot Flush - Review by Cameron Lowe
- Cabaret - Review by Sue Marks
- In Conversation With.....Catherine Porter - Interview by Steve Burbridge



How to Join UK Theatre Network

UKTN is a network of theatre lovers created in 2001 and has now grown to around 10,000 subscribers who collaborate, contribute, click and connect via our newsletters and blogs. You can subscribe free to our weekly newsletter by sending a blank email to subscribe@uktheatre.net or register with our social media site at http://www.uktheatre.tv to publish your events, blogs and chat with others who are passionate about theatre.


Doug's Radio Blog

Listen to Doug's Radio Blog each Saturday 12pm-2pm -http://www.nevisradio.co.uk
This weeks show includes everything from Jools Holland to Handel's Messiah, Simply Red to Status Quo and Romeo and Juliet to the Rolling Stones. If the weblink above doesn't work, try http://stream01.keyone.co.uk/nevis


BAFTA Report

I'm about to complete by report for BAFTA on Social Media. I'm looking to include many opinions of readers of this email about your thoughts of the events, website and social media elements of BAFTA. Reply to this email and include your name, age and occupation. 


Have a great week

Douglas McFarlane
editor@uktheatre.net
http://www.uktheatre.tv


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Casting For Oliver in the West End

UK Theatre Network are supporting the casting of Oliver in the West End by representing the talent youth of today. All children must be under 5 foot tall (they will be measured at the audition) and aged between 7 (which is the minimum age on the day of the audition) and 13.

http://www.uktheatre.tv/forum/topic/26


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VACANCY FOR AN EXCITING NEW POSITION

Youth Dance Contact (p/t)

Stoke-on-Trent Theatres in partnership with Youth Dance England andDanceXchange, Birmingham, seek a dynamic dance animateur with established project management skills to enable them to take on this new role with confidence and vision.

http://www.uktheatre.tv/forum/topic/27#27

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Sir Ben Applauds McAvoy

I got great tickets this week for Three Days Of Rain at the Apollo Theatre in the West End. I wanted to see what James McAvoy was like on stage, having enjoyed the film performances of this talented young Scot. On arrival, I was delighted to notice that I was sitting two rows behind Sir Ben Kingsley and watched with interest at the end to see his reaction. He clearly enjoyed it as his hands were raised in applause at the end and as he was leaving he gushed about how good it was and that he was going to get a message backstage to McAvoy to let him know. Praise indeed and something I'm sure my fellow Scot will relish. 

My view was that it was an unnecessarily complex play, with minimal set and some questionable judgements on direction, but all three actors were very talented and compelling to watch, so I'd recommend it from that perspective. 

For more details and to watch the video preview:
http://www.lovetheatre.com/uktheatrenet/whats_on/london/three_days_of_rain

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UPCOMING EVENTS

MusicaliFragilistic

Musical magic of stage and screen brought to life in a 21st Century Cabaret Club night
Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC14RL Tube: Holburn

http://www.uktheatre.tv/events/profile/30

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Dine With Shakespeare

Dinner with a Difference Theatre Company invite you to ‘DINE WITH SHAKESPEARE" at Smiths Restaurant, 1 Church Road Eccles April 22nd 23rd at 7pm

A fun and innovative evening of fine food, music ….. and Shakespeare.

http://www.uktheatre.tv/events/profile/42

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BritBits 5
Short Plays for the Busy Anglophile!

Join Mind The Gap Theatre for the return of our fabulous short play festival featuring brand new works by, for or about The British!

Performances: April 26 - May 5, 2009 - Manhattan Theatre Source, 177 MacDougal Street (Between 8th Street and Waverly) 10011, New York, NY

http://www.uktheatre.tv/events/profile/44

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Madame De Sade

Review by Elspeth Rae

I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy Mishima's play set in 18th century Paris. Although I love a lot of Japanese writing translated into English (Haruki Murakami being one of my chosen authors to have with me if, God forbid, I was ever to be left suddenly on a desert island beach) I am aware of the peculiarities and intricacies of language that can be lost in translation. 


http://www.uktheatre.tv/magazine/read/madame-de-sade-by-yukio-mishima-until-23rd-may-2009_121.html

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Jolson & Co: The Musical

Review by Steve Burbridge

Allan Stewart gives a breath-taking performance as Jolson in this stylish and sophisticated production. His voice is exquisite, full and powerful as he belts out Jolson’s biggest show-stoppers.

http://www.uktheatre.tv/magazine/read/jolson-andamp;-co-the-musical_101.html

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Be Near Me

Review by John Sinclair 

John Tiffany makes good use of the ten actors to create a beautiful piece of theatre. Most of the actors play two or three different characters, which works well in conveying the many different types of people Father David comes across.

http://www.uktheatre.tv/magazine/read/�be-near-me�-traverse-theatre-edinburgh-15-to-18-april-2009_120.html

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Waiting For Godot 

Review by John Sinclair 

One of the many influences that inspired the play was turn of the century music hall theatre and it is this aspect of the play that Sean Mathias and the Theatre Royal Haymarket Company have decided to put the main focus on.

http://www.uktheatre.tv/magazine/read/�waiting-for-godot�---king�s-theatre-edinburgh-13-to-18-april-2009_119.html

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Little Shop Of Horrors

Review By Steve Burbridge

This sensational new touring production, fresh from a recent West End revival, is magnificent. It has everything that you could look for in a musical: a talented cast; a wonderful storyline; a great 60s-pastiche score; and a vicious form of vegetation from outer space, intent on world domination, to boot!

http://www.uktheatre.tv/magazine/read/little-shop-of-horrors_100.html

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Hot Flush 

Review by Cameron Lowe

Clearly not for the young (or the faint of heart) this is a highly entertaining show for all women and many brave, confident men!

http://www.uktheatre.tv/magazine/read/hot-flush-(kingand39;s-theatre-glasgow-13---18-april-2009)_99.html

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Cabaret

Review by Sue Marks

If you like your theatre dark and raunchy then this is for you. Set in and around the Kit Kat Club in 1931 this play provides a snapshot of pre-fascist Berlin. Already considered a decadent city, the recent abolition of censorship had facilitated a new age of permissiveness.

http://www.uktheatre.tv/magazine/read/cabaret_98.html

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In Conversation With Catherine Porter

Interview By Steve Burbridge

Catherine Porter’s diverse career has included leading roles on West End, Broadway and worldwide theatre stages with Andrew Lloyd Webber, Michael Crawford, John Barrowman and Michael Ball to recording and touring with rock legends Queen.

http://www.uktheatre.tv/magazine/read/steve-burbridge-in-conversation-with-.-.-.-catherine-porter_97.html

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Lesley Joseph leads a strong cast in this musical which takes a comic look at all aspects of the menopause.  While this may seem to be an unusual topic for a musical, it was certainly something that 99 percent of the audience could relate to!

 

Julie Benson’s laugh-a-minute script hits just the right tone for this girls’ night out production.  Based upon the research for her highly acclaimed book “How to Approach the Change and Win”, the hormone fuelled dialog cracks along at a great pace and produces perfect situational vehicles for the cast to let off some steam.  While the original music is let down somewhat by the lack of a live band and a somewhat reedy electronic air, the tunes are catchy and the lyrics build on the quickly established characters nicely.

 

Lesley Joseph (Myra) led the small cast well with a feisty character and some hilarious physical comedy. Hilary O’Neil (Sylvia) and Anne Smith (Helen) added vocal strength and, alongside Ruth Keeling (Jessica), covered the majority of middle aged female stereotypes to poke fun (and an Ann Summers rabbit) at!  Hot Flush veteran, Sam Kane (playing all the men in their lives) gave a supremely confident comic performance on his second national tour of the show.

 

Clearly not for the young (or the faint of heart) this is a highly entertaining show for all women and many brave, confident men!

 

Listings Info:

Hot Flush

King’s Theatre, Glasgow

Mon 13 – Sat 18 April

Mon – Thu eves 7.30pm

Fri & Sat 5.30pm & 8.30pm

Tickets: £12.50 - £25.50

Box Office 0870 060 6648 (Bkg)

www.ambassadortickets.com/glasgow (bkg)

Cult classic Little Shop of Horrors shocks, horrifies and delights in equal measure on the only Scottish dates of this national tour.

 

From ‘curtain-up’ it was clear that this is a technically astonishing production.  The scale of the set combined with lighting and sound effects to enhance the impact of the jawdropping plant animatronics and puppeteer work.  This show really pushes the boundaries of what can be achieved on a touring production.  On a couple of occasions on opening night it almost seemed like it might be hanging on by its technical fingertips … but the presentation was (quite literally) out of this world.

 

While the music and book dripped from the pen of a partnership hailed for the revival of the Disney musical (Ashman and Menken collaborated on The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin while, following Ashman’s untimely death, Menken went on to compose Pocahontas, Hercules and others) parents would do well to note that this puppet centred production owes more to its 1950s shock-horror sci-fi roots!  In fact, fans of the original 1959 B-movie will be delighted to note that this production revels in the original macabre storyline.

 

Performances from the headline cast were solid throughout.  Sylvester McCoy (Mushnik) and Alex Ferns (Orin Scrivello, DDS) immersed themselves to hilarious effect in their outlandish characters.  Clare Buckfield delivered an understated but enjoyable Audrey while Damien Humbley was convincingly torn (chewed and swallowed) as Seymour.  Vocal plaudits must go to trio Nadi Di Mambro, Cathryn Davis and Donna Hines as Chiffon, Crystal and Ronette together with Mike McShane, who was an inspired choice as Audrey II.  Music from the pit seemed a little thin from the five band members but what they lacked in depth they made up for in gusto.

 

LISTINGS INFO:

 

Mon 6 – Sat 11 April

Mon – Sat eves 7.30pm

Wed & Sat mats 2.30pm

Box Office: 0870 060 6648 (bkg)

Tickets: £11 -£31

www.ambassadortickets.com/glasgow (bkg)

Light on story?  Maybe.  Nostalgic?  Probably.  Great fun and uplifting?  Most definitely!!  Dreamboats and Petticoats had the audience on their feet!

 

The nostalgic, retrospective musical show tour has become commonplace in our theatres … but their popularity does not guarantee that they are any good.  A cynical producer would insist that building a show around 43 classic chart hits from the 50s and early 60s would deliver a smash hit musical.  But the audiences who were first attracted to the theatre to see “Buddy” have been suckered by a few badly produced, but similarly themed, shows since and are growing more sophisticated.  The bar has been raised.

 

So what of this new arrival?  Even with raised expectations, Dreamboats and Petticoats delivers more than you might hope for.  OK, the story is light and the choreography is simplistic but the music, humour, performances and blatant onstage FUN really lift this show out of the ordinary.  The story is based around a church youth club and an entry into a national song writing competition.   Almost as expected – girl worships boy from afar, boy doesn’t notice girl, girl makes boy jealous, boy shows interest, girl (apparently) changes her mind, boy gets sad, girl and boy finally realise their true love, the end.  But writers Marks and Gran (of Birds of a Feather fame) have built in some instantly appealing characters and some regular chuckles along the way so that the story becomes a simple vehicle for delivery of the humour and the music.

 

Performances from this largely breakthrough cast were excellent.  X-factor’s Scott Bruton and newcomers Daisy Wood-Davis, Emma Hatton and A.J. Dean really shone while ‘older’ hands  Jennifer Biddal and David Cardy delivered their roles with aplomb.  Michael Lloyd was an audience favourite for his hilarious characters while Emmerdale’s Ben Freeman astonished with an outstanding vocal and character performance.  Did I mention that the cast played their own instruments?  Yep, put “Return to the Forbidden Planet” in a time machine and you’ll find yourself with “Dreamboats and Petticoats”!  Producer Bill Kenwright has, once again, delivered something special here.  Watch out for some cleverly penned contemporary gags … and a scene stealing monk!

 

LISTINGS INFORMATION:

 

KING’S THEATRE , GLASGOW

Mon 2 – Sat 7 March

Mon - Sat eves 7.30pm

Wed & Sat mats 2.30pm

Tickets: £11 - £29

Box Office: 0870 060 6648 (bkg fee)

www.ambassadortickets.com/glasgow  (bkg fee)