NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL A MUSICAL - UK TOUR REVIEW ***

Last Night, I attended the regional Press Night for ‘Now That’s What I Call a Musical’ at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking. 

‘Now That’s What I Call a Musical’ is a new jukebox musical featuring smash-hits from the 80s. The story follows Gemma and April, two best friends, as we see their lives unfold as they reminisce during their 20 year school reunion.. But what happens when two old friends are reunited after so long? I’ll let you find out for yourself.

For me, what held this show together like super glue was the cast.

Eastenders Star, Nina Wadia plays Gemma - and her performance was a delight to watch. Wadia’s character has one of the biggest journeys throughout the show and we definitely saw this radiating from her. Gemma became a loveable character that the audience could really get behind - and I believe, that is half of the battle with a new musical and a show.

Playing Gemma’s best friend April, was my standout performance, the impeccable Melissa Jaques. Jaques doesn’t appear until the end of Act 1 but for me she seriously brightened the entire show. Her commanding stage presence and incredible vocals drew the attention of the audience in, and once she had.. All eyes were fixated on her every time she stepped on the stage. Melissa Jaques stole the entire show! She was fabulous. 

Woking’s Guest Star performer was none other than T’Pau’s Carol Decker… 

I think that ‘Now That’s What I Call a Musical’ have a good concept here, having a guest star, different between some venues, coming and singing one of their big hit songs. Carol Decker was just brilliant - she had the audience in the palm of her hand and they were loving every second. Decker knows how to work a crowd, and this was evident in both the performance but also the rapturous applause she received upon her exit.

Another two fantastic performances came from Nikita Johal and Maia Hawkins who play Young Gemma and Young April respectively. They brought a great sense of energy to the performance that the material itself seemed to lack. They were a joy to watch and their vocals blended together beautifully.

Unfortunately though, I thought that ‘Now That’s What I Call a Musical’ just didn’t quite hit the mark for me, and here is why!

Firstly, I am by no means stating these as reasons why you should not go and see the show.. It is a lovely musical, and many audience members seemed to absolutely love it! I am not necessarily the show's target audience and so these are my reasons why It didn’t work for me.. But if you are considering the show, please don’t let this sway you not to! 

The material itself felt long, and as though it could have been done in much less time. The entirety of Act 1 we spent reminiscing on Gemma and April’s friendship and childhood memories.. Not actually meeting adult April to the end of Act 1. Which is when Melissa Jaques arrived and stole the show. I believe that what was done, could have been done in a shorter show - and potentially made it a nicer show to watch. Although the length of the storytelling was dragged out, Pippa Evans writes a brilliant book, but the “Brummie” accents need a little more work, in the cases of some performers.. 

The energy of the piece as a whole seemed flat throughout act one, which is a shame because it did begin to pick up a little bit through act two.. But this is one thing that needs to be right from the very beginning of the show. It felt that numbers were shoe-horned in, in an attempt to hit their personal quota for how many 80s hits they could fit into the musical… This is the 3rd Jukebox musical I know of that contains The Proclaimers’ ‘500 Miles’. And I love that song, but it just seems like surely there is another that could be used!

Personally, I found this experience to be a little lacklustre - which again is a shame because I really wanted to love it! But despite this, I thought that the performers were absolutely marvellous and each one of them gave their all, which is why I am awarding this show 3 stars! I would be happy to watch it again with a revised book -

I think this show is for you, if you’re looking for a night out that has all of your favourite 80s songs, a guest star and some gorgeous vocals.. 

It runs at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking this week until Saturday, with tickets available here! - and then the tour continues on and you will find more information here! 

Thanks for reading my thoughts, and don’t forget to check out my socials for more stagey content - @robbiesbackstagebants on Instagram! And If you’d like to get in touch - my email is robbiesbackstagebants@gmail.com

27th November 2024

Robbie Davies | Robbie’s Backstage Bants