(C) Marc Brenner
I Should Be So Lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky!
When Ella is left jilted at the altar by fiancé Nathan, her friends do what any good pals would do and try to raise her spirits. And with a honeymoon to Turkey already paid for, there’s only one thing to do. Pack! The wedding may be off, but the Honeymoon is on!
Featuring the soundtrack of a generation with music, from pop royalty including Kylie Minogue (I Should Be So Lucky), Rick Astley (Never Gonna Give You Up), Jason Donovan (Especially for You), Bananarama (Love In The First Degree) and more, all intertwined in an original story of love, laughter and last-minute getaways!
As the saying goes, “it isn’t Chekhov” but who in their right mind would go to see a show like this and expect anything more than a night of camp fun.
This is one of the most perfectly cast shows I have ever seen and the diversity makes it look like the people on stage really could be the same people sitting in the audience (funny that). As our star crossed lovers, Ella and Nathan, Lucy-Mae Sumner and Billy Roberts are perfect. It’s hard not to compare this show to Mamma Mia! But in this show, Sophie and Sky crank it up a few notches, singing and dancing like their lives depend on it. In fact, every person on stage looks like they are living their best life in this show and I can only imagine that the party continues off stage as well as on.
Scott Paige as the token gay best friend, Michael, is hilarious, giving more padam padam than you can wave a fan at. Kayla Carter breaks hearts as Bonnie, vocally stunning and icon Melissa Jacques blows the roof off as Shelley.
Jamie Chapman is hilarious as Spencer, Jemma Churchill is full-out as grandma Ivy, Jessica Daley is stand-out sensational as Britney and Giovanni Spanò shows real vocal ability and cheeky chappy charm as Ash.
I was equally impressed with Matthew Croke as Nadeem who showed a real diversity in his acting – a huge departure from Aladdin and the growth in his voice was richer than ever.
Kylie Minogue digitally appears throughout the show as Ella’s guiding light in life and I was surprised just how much the pop icon features. And it works brilliantly. With shows like ABBA Voyage selling out, with people paying to see holograms on stage, what’s wrong with having someone like Kylie appear digitally in the UK when she is busy selling out a Las Vegas residency on the other side of the pond? Absolutely nothing – and I am sure she’s drinking her Kylie branded Prosecco and thinking of us!
The ensemble are tight and Tegan Bannister, Ralph Bogard, Elliot Broadfoot, Emma Crossley, Kade Ferraiolo, Sydney Isitt-Ager, Joe Kelly, Aidan Nightingale, James Willoughby Moore, Lauren Woolf and Louie Wood work beautifully together.
Directed by stage and screen legend Debbie Isitt (the mind behind the hit Nativity! franchise) and choreographed by Jason Gilkison (creative director for Strictly Come Dancing), this show has more love hearts than a pix ’n’ mix stand in the nineties and some clever choreography. I especially liked how the bags were put into the overhead cabins on the aeroplane.
With Stock Aitken Waterman’s beloved chart-toppers, combined with a stellar cast and writers who know what they are trying to do, a show like this could tour forever – it’s Mamma Mia! On crack!
Reviewed by West End Wilma
