Darlington Hippodrome – until 10 February 2018.
3***
In Soho, in the swinging 60’s, there existed a record shop called The Preacher Man. The owner of the shop, the Preacher Man himself dispensed words of wisdom along with the vinyl to the teenagers and music fans who frequented his shop. But the Preacher Man is is long dead and his record shop is now a coffee shop run by his son, Simon (Nigel Richards).
Three strangers, generations apart are drawn to the site of The Preacher Man. The trio, Kat (Alice Barlow), Alison (Debra Stephenson) and Paul (Michael Howe), hope to seek advice about love from the man himself. Paul was one of the “crowd”, now wanting to reconnect with an unrequited lost love from back then. Alison is a recently widowed tutor with feelings that she can’t decide are truly appropriate. Kat has just lost her grandmother, who was full of stories about The Preacher Man and has been delving into the world of online dating, only to be snubbed by “the man of her dreams”.
They are instead greeted with his son Simon, who is helped by the wonderful Cappuccino Sisters, a rather glamorous trinity of waitresses (Michelle Long, Kate Hardisty and Cassiopeia Berkeley-Agyepong). Simon is quiet, meek and living under the shadow of his father, but at the same time unable to move forward. After much persuasion he seeks to channel the spirit of The Preacher Man to give the lovesick strangers The Look of Love.
The first act is almost pantomime-esq in its quest to set the story and to fit in many of Dusty Springfields fabulous songs. And the characters don’t really get the chance to develop. Alison (Stephenson) is the one that suffers most with this. Paul (Howe) gets the most rounded and fleshed out of the characters. Thankfully the second act works much better and although contrived it does reach a happy ending.
The cast all play instruments live on stage showing a vast range of talent. And the set shows versatility moving from record store to coffee shop to flat by way of opening and shutting in various ways.
There are, however some stand out moments. I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten where Paul introduces his story of unrequited (and at that time illegal) love is set with a beautifully choreographed ballet. But I wouldn’t expect anything less than fab-u-lous when the show is directed and choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood. A House is not a Home, Spooky and You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me all work well too and anything sung by Alice Barlow is fantastic. If you are a fan of the Dusty Springfield’s soulful vocals then this may not be the show for you. It is not a tribute nor does it claim to be. It is a musical and the songs have been adapted to fit the genre. However if you are happy to just sing along and enjoy the nostalgia then you may enjoy.
In Darlington until 10 February 2018 and on tour around the UK until July.