Hull New Theatre – until 8th February 2025
Reviewed by Dawn Bennett
5*****
Now That’s What I Call A Musical brought sunshine and laughter into Hull New Theatre on a cold February night. Based on the book by Pippa Evans and with direction and choreography by Craig Revel Horwood this new jukebox musical looked very promising. From the first sight of the stage, that had cassette tapes around it, to the end of show with the 80’s medley it was an absolutely joyous production. It was funny, brilliantly acted, danced and sung and the band, led by musical director Georgia Rawlins, were outstanding.
It was hit after 80’s hit, from Frankie Goes to Hollywood through to The Buggles. It was great to hear the songs sung at a different pace and they really fitted the story line and added to the flow of the production.
The show tells the story, set in 1989 Birmingham, of two friends at the end of their school life and before they go off into the wide world. It is told in a series of flashbacks with younger and older cast members playing the same character, it’s very cleverly done and makes the story easy to follow. Younger Gemma (Nikita Johal) and Younger April (Maia Hawkins) know what they want to do. Gemma wants to be a Nurse, get married and have children while April wants to go to America and make it big in films. Fast forward 20 years and we see Gemma (Nina Wadia) at the school reunion hoping to see April (Sam Bailey) who she hasn’t heard from a lot since she moved away. Gemma’s husband, Tim (Chris Grahamson) is there at the reunion and you really get the impression that their marriage is not a happy one (to say the least!!). The story is full of twists and turns and I won’t spoil it for you by telling you too much of the plot but needless to say it’s hilarious and very cleverly done.
All the cast are very, very talented and they were all a pleasure to watch, their singing and their harmonies were just fabulous.
The costumes (by Tom Rogers and Toots Butcher) were excellent, bright garish and very 80’s. The number of quick changes the cast did was mind boggling and very impressive!!
I knew Sinitta was in this production, and wasn’t sure how, or where she would appear but goodness me, I wasn’t disappointed, an 80’s icon in every sense of the word.
I would highly recommend this musical, if you are a fan of 80’s music done really well, an excellent cast, lots of laugh out loud moments and a great storyline this is one for you!