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The Review - THEATRE by MAGGIE GRUNER
Published: 30 July 2009
 

Laura (Daisy Wood-Davis) and Bobby (Scott ­Bruton)
Voyage into nostalgia

DREAMBOATS AND PETTICOATS
Savoy Theatre

SMASH hits from the rock ‘n’ roll era spring back, fresh and vibrant as ever, thanks to this great all-singing, all-dancing cast.
The musical’s action is set mainly in a 1961 youth club – an environment well known to its writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, who first met at a youth club in Finsbury Park in the early 1960s.
Marks and Gran (the team behind Goodnight Sweetheart, Birds of a Feather, The New Statesman and Shine on Harvey Moon) inject a liberal dose of comedy and ensure this production has an authentic taste of the time in which it is set.
It features classic tracks from artists including Roy Orbison, The Shadows, Eddie Cochran and Billy Fury.
The lightweight story, charting teenage crushes and unrequited love, effortlessly ushers in a string of hits including Let’s Dance, Shakin’ All Over, Bobby’s Girl, Poetry in Motion, Great Pretender, Only the Lonely, Runaround Sue, Only Sixteen, Da Do Ron Ron, Let’s Twist Again... The list is seemingly inexhaustible.
The action focuses on Laura (Daisy Wood-Davis), a music-mad schoolgirl who has a crush on Bobby (Scott Bruton, a finalist in last year’s X Factor).
They want to win a national song-writing competition – a goal shared by Norman (Ben Freeman, famed for his role in TV’s Emmerdale).
Bobby and Norman also compete over Sue (Jennifer Biddall of Hollyoaks fame). There’s plenty of argy-bargy, helped along by sparky performances from the rest of the talented cast, but of course true love triumphs.
The production, inspired by the top selling albums Dreamboats and Petticoats and Dream­boats and Petticoats Two, is directed by Bob Tomson.
Musical supervisor is Keith Strachan and choreographer Carole Todd.
Every tune had older members of the audience sighing with nostalgic pleasure and by the end the aisles were rocking and rolling as young and old got to their feet to join in with the singing and dancing.
A great night out.
Until May 2
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