The musical was penned by
writing duo Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, much more associated with hit
comedy television shows like The New Statesman with Rik Mayall, Goodnight
Sweetheart with Nicholas Lyndhurst and Birds Of A Feather with Linda Robson –
quite a collection. 'Dreamboats And Petticoats' wasn’t their first venture into the
theatre, but it remains their biggest hit and opened in 2009 to rave reviews
and an Olivier award.
This production of the
jukebox musical has been brought into the more modern era with the opening
scene where Bobby, as a grandfather, talking to his granddaughter refers to
downloading and music streams whilst acknowledging CDs as being in the past. Laura was also much more assertive in her
attitude towards her career and was portrayed as a modern woman in the world of
showbusiness. Sadly, this modernisation
doesn’t really strengthen the plot that really is there as just a method of
moving from one song to another in the shortest possible time.
The cast also included
Mark Wynter as Larry, the London-based manager of Laura who rarely ventures
outside of the capital but enjoys a strong hold over Laura and the direction of
her career. At one point trading a
summer season with Frankie Howerd in Torquay with a stint for boyfriend Bobby’s
band at Butlins in Bognor Regis. Wynter
had a singing career or his own in the 1960s and he had an opportunity during
the latter stages of this production to sing a medley of his releases as part
of a 'Song For Europe' sketch in which Bobby and Laura are competing. This segment also played out to a very funny
Kenneth Williams impersonation by David Benson (who also played old Bobby as a
grandfather and Bobby’s father Mr Cole) – whilst this isn’t the first time
Benson has played Williams, he delivered this brilliantly and had the audience
in hysterics throughout.
In truth the biggest thing
about this musical is the multitude of well known songs, more than thirty of
them in all, and the cast deliver these superbly. Not only Ribi and Carter but many of the
other cast members including Norman (Alastair Hill), Ray (David Luke), Donna
(Samara Clarke) and Sue (Lauren Anderson-Oakley) are equally outstanding. Some of these performers have been part of 'Dreamboats And Petticoats' previously and this shows.
The set design and
lighting was also to be applauded, from the St Mungo’s Youth Club setting to
the Butlin’s holiday camp stage and the Palace in Torquay – the changes were
minimal but very believable as different venues and the transitions are
seamless. There were often many
performers on stage at the same time playing instruments live but it was very
simple to follow the lead characters at any point in time.
This is the first time I
have seen this musical and ultimately 'Dreamboats And Petticoats' is an uplifting
production. I enjoyed much of what I
saw, in particular the strong cast who perform admirably and deliver on each
and every musical number. I do wish that
there was more of a storyline to underpin the whole thing and even a few less
songs if that is what would be required – it was an evening of fun with just a
tinge of regret that it could have been so much better.
Reviewer - John Fish
on - 14/3/22
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