BWW Reviews: DREAMBOATS & MINISKIRTS, New Alexandra Theatre Birmingham, October 13 2014

Dreamboats and Petticoats has done the UK tour rounds on several occasions as well as having a very successful West End run. There has also been a massive franchise of CDs that have been released which have acted as another good marketing tool. Because of all this, Bill Kenwright along with his creative team have put a sequel on the road entitled Dreamboats and Miniskirts.

I have not seen the original production of Dreamboats and Petticoats so some of the references in this show were wasted on me. However, the general jist of what went on previously became apparent very quickly so the transition was an easy one.

The set was very simple with stage masking being made up of newspaper cuttings relevant to the setting of the 1960's. In addition to this, there are a couple of fly and portable set pieces but that is as far as Sean Cavanagh's design goes. Tim Oliver's lighting design is also fairly basic but excels during the rock 'n' roll numbers. One of the production's greatest strengths is the sound design by Dan Samson and live mixing. The quality of the vocals and instrumental is excellent and the balance is perfect between them.

The book by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran is very clichéd and unfortunately does not give the cast a great deal to play with. The direction by Kenwright and Keith Strachan is also rather dull and unimaginative, not helped by Carole Todd's staid choreography. All of the 1960s influences are there but there is no creativity or complexity expressed.

The performing company are also musicians and their skills in this area are incredible. Naturally the casting favours musicians as opposed to actor/dancers which is understandable - but to make the production work better as a whole, it would be better to cast triple threats to give it a more professional finish. This said, I was massively impressed by their musicianship and vocals which were on form throughout. Stand-out vocal performances for me were Louise Olley playing Sue and Anna Campkin as Donna. I enjoyed Alex Beaumont's vocals as Bobby when he relaxed into the songs a bit more and the grit in Ross William Wild's voice as Norman carried very well.

Overall the musical was a bit of a disappointment but in a concert format, I would have greatly enjoyed it.

Dreamboats and Miniskirts plays at the New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham until Saturday 18 October 2014 and continues to tour until March 2015.

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