Hull New Theatre – until 20th April 2019
Reviewed by Catherine McWilliams
4****
Club Tropicana the Musical is set in the 1980s and loosely revolves around the story of Lorraine (Karina Hind) who calls off her wedding to Olly (Cellen Chugg Jones) and then goes off on her honeymoon to the Club Tropicana with her two best friends. Of course in musical land nothing is that simple so throw in the jilted bridegroom turning up at the same hotel, some unrequited love, a rogue Spanish worker and a possible hotel inspector, mix it all up with fabulous 1980s music and some cracking dancing and you have a fantastic night out at the theatre.
Written by Michael Gygnell, Mark Goucher and Gavin Kalin’s production of Club Tropicana The Musical is an affectionate tribute to the 1980s, when anything seemed possible and if you were young life was fun and vibrant (and that was just the neon clothes!). The story is full of humour and kitsch and asides about what might be in the future, which the audience knows has come to pass. It moves on at a pace, with one song often moving swiftly into the next one. This young cast is full of verve and have cracked the 1980s dancing beautifully, the choreography is spot on, but I hadn’t quite realised how much dance styles had changed! Costumes that are absolutely right and a wonderfully cheesy backdrop took us right back to the 1980s.
Joe McElderry as Garry, the Entertainments Manager at the hotel, had the audience in the palm of his hands from the minute he walked on the stage. He was clearly loving every minute of the performance and his timing was superb as chaos reigned. His voice was always beautiful and Relax was one of my favourites, but it has to be said that the rendition of Making Your Mind Up will stay with me for a long time, for all of the right reasons.
Kate Robbins as Consuela owned the stage as the anarchic Spanish hotel cleaner/dogsbody. She uses all of her body to create the character and had the audience hooting with laughter just by the way she sat down. Of course there were some impressions along the way but these were performed as Consuela performing them – sheer brilliance. Her singing voice is wonderful and who knew that the Minder theme tune I Could Be So Good For You would work so well as part of a musical.
The musical numbers were performed superbly by all the cast, particularly Cellen Chugg Jones (Olly) and Karina Hind (Lorraine), the duet of Take On Me was stunning. Neil McDermott as Robert and Amelle Berrabah as Serena gel well as the hotel owners and Emily Tierney plays Christine wonderfully. Rebecca Mendoza (Tracey) performs a wonderfully funny version of The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
If you want serious theatre then this isn’t for you, if you are offended by some slightly dodgy jokes this isn’t for you either. This is a frothy vibrant cocktail of fun and fabulous music, providing a fantastic night out at the theatre. Monday nights at Hull New Theatre make for a hard audience, so how wonderful to watch the entire front stalls rise as one to give the cast a well-deserved standing ovation. Hull loved you – and we all went out buzzing with enjoyment and with one or two songs playing in our heads!