When there are jukebox shows like Mamma Mia! and Jersey Boys setting the standard, combining a decent storyline and some equally decent songs, it’s more than a tad disappointing to come across something with a plot that is frankly bizarre. The story fits around the musical numbers, with the show seemingly revelling in how convoluted and contrived it is. It’s as if the story navigates around the songs, as though the tunes were obstacles in an obstacle course.
The central character, Ella (Lucie-Mae Sumner, who has a magnetic stage presence) is about to get married to Nathan (Billy Roberts) but is jilted at the altar. Cue Kylie – as in Kylie Minogue – in the series of pre-recorded videos (oh come on, you didn’t really think the actual Kylie Minogue would be touring various theatres in the UK and Ireland, did you?) encouraging her to be “strong, beautiful and fabulous”, with miscellaneous references to her (Minogue’s) back catalogue in an otherwise highly cringey script.
When the action shifts from Britain to Turkey, and more specifically to a lovers’ retreat run by Spencer (Jamie Chapman), there are some odd accents amongst the ‘local’ staff, including a masseur, Hassan (Ralph Bogard) who wants to give “Indian head” – make of that what you will. Be still my beating heart – oh, it is. The show was never offensive, at least not to me, but it was incredibly strange. Various misunderstandings between various characters ensue, which frankly could have been resolved over WhatsApp or an old-fashioned conversation. Normality, however, is not what this show does, in a show crammed with lazy stereotypes.
At one point, a few (maybe three) beach balls launch into the front stalls, are bounced around for a bit and then promptly forgotten about, and the randomness of proceedings eventually makes one want to stop trying to make sense of what is going on. There’s a musical theatre happy ending, and a long megamix at the end, as various jukebox shows like to treat or otherwise subject their audiences to, but even these don’t feel fully earned. A grandmother, Ivy (Jemma Churchill), specifically talks about her ‘vajazzle’, at least twice, passports go missing en masse and without logical explanation (even when it is explained, it is still without logic). Put resort employee Nadeem (Matthew Croke) into the mix, and the show now has a love triangle: how very unoriginal.
And yet, and yet… Jason Gilkison’s choreography is a delight to witness, whenever it gets a chance to truly shine. The costumes (Tom Rogers) always suit each scene – whether at the (non) wedding, at the resort, or at a party, there’s a lot of bold and bright colours to behold. The cast deliver the chart songs written by Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman with flair and enthusiasm. In fact, if the storyline had been removed altogether and the show became a Stock Aitken Waterman musical revue, I might have enjoyed it a whole lot more. The show does best when it abandons the narrative for a while and gives the audience song after song. Otherwise, it’s never a good sign when one stops caring about what happens to any of the characters long before the curtain call.
Review by Chris Omaweng