Hull New Theatre – until 24th February 2024
Reviewed by Dawn Bennett
5*****
I Should Be So Lucky The Musical bounced into Hull New Theatre last night and what a brilliant night it was! Created by Debbie Isitt (who also wrote the Nativity! series of films) and with the music from Stock Aitken Waterman’s it is probably one of the most fun, feelgood musicals I have seen in a long while.
I could just listen to Stock Aitken Watermans back catalogue of music on its own, and regularly do to be honest, but the visual feast that was last nights show had to be seen to be believed…I mean we even had appearances by Kylie!
I Should Be So Lucky tells the story of Ella (Lucie-Mae Sumner) who, on her wedding day, is jilted at the alter by her finance Nathan (Billy Roberts). As she is naturally devastated by this, her family, sister Britney (Emma Crossley) Mum Shelley (Melissa Jacques) and Shelly’s Mum Ivy (Jemma Churchill) and her friends Bonnie (Kayla Carter) and Michael (Scott Paige) decide to go with her on her honeymoon which is a romantic holiday resort in Turkey. Back at home Nathan along with his best man, Ash (Giovanni Spanò) go round to Ella’s house but after talking to her Dad, Big Mike (Gary Davis) find she’s gone to Turkey, so they decide to go there to find her as Nathan realises the mistake he has made. In the resort Ella meets Olivia (Anna Unwin) who she went to high school with and who she wasn’t exactly friends with, and her husband Revel Harrington III (Aidan Nightingale), trying to impress them Ella says that her husband is Nadeem (Mathew Croke) who works in the resort. Manager Spencer (Jamie Chapman) asks Nadeem to look after Ella and he takes her to all the places that finance Nathan had organised for them to go on their honeymoon. And then the mayhem begins!
All the cast are brilliant in this production, their singing, dancing and acting were outstanding. I particularly enjoyed watching Jamie Chapman (Spencer) who’s timing and comic skills had the audience howling with laughter and Giovanni Spanò (Ash) who’s all round performance was brilliant to watch.
The band played the iconic tunes faultlessly, and they included the very recognisable I Should Be So Lucky, Venus, Toy Boy, Respectable, Never Gonna Give You Up and many more.
This production is just brilliant, the music takes you right back to the sounds of the 80’s. The songs alone are worth the ticket price but with this brilliant cast it makes it a must-see show. Just Fabulous!!