Now That’s What I Call a Musical has arrived at Nottingham as part of its debut UK tour. Capitalising on the recent trend of 80s nostalgia on stage, this new jukebox musical features many well-known hits from the 80s in a new story about friendship, family and growing up.
Now That’s What I Call a Musical follows the lives of best friends Gemma and April as they grow up and apart, turning 18 and becoming an adult. The narrative is simple enough for a jukebox musical and doesn’t overreach itself in this regard. However, the trope-ridden nature of this book misses an opportunity to the inherent campiness of such a story gelled with such songs. These tropes are present as an attempt to achieve the ambitious task of creating nostalgia for the decade.
Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood turns his hand once again to Direction and Choreography. The production is characterised by bizarre and unnecessary scenes unfold in a fever dream of ridiculousness that don’t land with the intended effect. For instance, ‘Video Killed the Radiostar’ is delivered with very literal costumes and choreography. The production does not feel like it has a sense of identity under Horwood’s direction, with many scenes being laughably bad. Even from the offset, the show starts in a weird, incoherent fashion with meaningless slow-mo and attempting to set the scene and introduce characters. Furthermore, Horwood seems to value the movement of tables by characters carrying them above their heads which looks bizarre and seems both confusing, basic and unnecessary as a way of transitioning set pieces.
Where Horwood should shine is in choreography, but this also significantly hampers the production. Sadly, Horwood’s artistic vision for the piece falls significantly short of hitting the mark on this production. Horwood’s dancing background does not translate well into a theatrical performance with many moments of spurious choreography undercutting emotion. The dancing feels unnecessary in many scenes and has placed in purely for the sake of it. This is not to say that the cast don’t perform this well – they execute the choreography with precision, but they are let down by consistently bland and uninspired direction.
Pippa Evans’ book is inconsistent with some elements of very clever humour and some genuine attempts to please a nostalgic audience. Overall, however, the book struggles to succeed in a production so distracted by choreography and music. Further, the book contains some inconsistencies which don’t seem to make sense – at one point, the characters are said to be 38 and another, over 50. Another character is said to be going away on business and then appears the following day in the same location. Nevertheless, Evans should be commended for crafting a narrative which does centre around a real point of nostalgia – friendship.
Making her professional debut, Maia Hawkins shines in the show as Younger April. Her vocals are exceptional and she also delivers a commendable acting performance. The character of April is similarly bolstered by Melissa Jacques as older April who brings more exceptional vocals and a layered performance. Jacques feels underutilised in this show, especially considering her immense talent.
Similarly, Nikita Johal offers a very secure performance as Young Gemma which is vocally sound and offers some nuance. Her older counterpart, played by Nina Wadia, also offers some commendable characterisation.
The ensemble work hard in this show – they offer some excellent background acting and a clear understanding of character, despite the material they’re working for.
Special guest for this date of the tour, Sinitta, excels in this production. Though a very small role, her entrance and its direction is delivered very successfully, with the camp finery that this production is sorely missing.
Tom Rogers has provided some excellent 80s inspired costuming which suits the characters very well. The set design, however, is less successful. There is some versatility, but the permanent pub features impedes on multiple scenes.
The music in this show is enough for any 80s fan to get excited about. Mark Crossland’s arrangements and orchestrations are excellent – these songs have rarely sounded better. The band sound amazing and the cast belt the numbers out with equal precision. As with most jukebox musicals, most songs are very tangentially linked. A more self-aware approach may have suited this production almost perfectly, as the genre lends itself to in this modern theatrical climate.
Overall, Now That’s What I Call a Musical offers some excellent performances and a great opportunity to hear some classics in a new context. However, Horwood’s direction and choreography prevents this production from soaring into the hit it could have been. Undoubtedly, however, this production will be a hit for those lovers of the 80s!
Now That’s What I Call a Musical plays the Theatre Royal Nottingham until Saturday 28th September.
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