The 1980s was a decade defined by crazy hair, bright colours and leg-warmers. These are all part of Club Tropicana which is essentially a jukebox musical of '80s tunes. To say it's cheesy is an understatement.
From the moment the show begins with camp host Garry (Joe McElderry) welcoming the audience, you know straight away you can't take this show seriously. The plot follows Lorraine (Karina Hind) and Olly (Cellen Chugg Jones) who are just about to get married. However, Lorraine allows herself to be talked out of it at the last minute and calls the wedding off. To cheer the newly singletons up, both of their set of friends decide the best thing is to go on the honeymoon anyway. Little do they know the other has the same idea. The couple end up taking part in the resort's version of blind date and end up matching.
However, the plot is not important. The audience seem much more invested in the comedy of the show and are especially drawn to McElderry and Kate Robbins who plays Spanish cleaner; Consuela. Robbins really is the glue holding the show together, without her comic timing this show would be dead on its knees by the interval. She did a fantastic impression of Cilla Black and Tina Turner. But I was confused by how she'd go from speaking perfect English one minute and then speak in broken English the next. Whether it was her intention or not, her attempt at a Spanish accent was questionable.
McElderry is confident and completely commits to his over-the-top persona of Garry the resort's entertainer. He does have a great singing voice and looked like he was having a lot of fun.
Let's be real for a moment though, if this was a 'serious' show it would be a disaster. Some of the acting could have been a lot better. One of the strongest parts of the show was the choreography, so praise must go to Nick Winston for creating moves that captured the essence of the era. The ensemble did a great job in bringing it to life.
Apart from the main plot there is a subplot between hotel workers Serena (Amelle Berrabah) and Robert (Nye Rees) - they've been friends since they were kids and leave the audience guessing will they or won't they. Honestly I was a bit disappointed by this pairing. Acting wise they weren't great and their singing wasn't much better - Rees sounded flat when they sung 'Jump (For my Love)'. I'm not sure if they were playing up to the cheesiness of the show or not. Sadly I don't think Berrabah got enough time to show what she is capable of vocally. Being completely honest I felt the role of Serena wasn't for her.
I can't help but feel there were a lot of references to the 1980s that went over my head. I'm sure people who remember the decade loved it.
With the title of the musical being 'Club Tropicana' I banked of the famous George Michael hit being performed. Although it's referenced many times during the show, it's never actually performed, which makes me feel a little short changed.
The overall feel of the show is definitely pantomime. The audience were even booing and hissing at the baddie. Some of the audience were getting up on their feet during the show. I've never seen an audience get so involved during a show before. It almost felt as if someone were trying to create a musical version of the ITV show Benidorm. However, it's nowhere near as good. It feels like it was just written to have a musical with 80s songs, not because someone had a great idea.
For what it sets out do 'Club Tropicana' does pretty well. It is very OTT but enjoyable. It caters for the audience and all seemed to enjoy it tonight. Some even looked like they were having the best night of their lives.
Reviewer - Brian Madden
on - 3/6/19
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