Scott Purvis-Armour reviews 'a fun and flirty holiday musical' that is 'a fast-paced frolic of a show'.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that any musical which features a whiff of a wedding cake in the first ten minutes will all end in...tiers.
Jilted at the altar by her fiancé Nathan, Ella dumps her dress and grabs her passport as she travels to a honeymoon paradise with her loud and proud bridal squad. There she meets a loveable host of holiday tropes who wine and dine her through her heartbreak…until Nathan arrives to win her back.
The result is a sentimental but never mockish show about finding yourself when all you’ve ever known is someone else, a challenge much easier when Kylie Minogue makes cameo appearances as your mirror-bound Fairy Godmother.
A mixtape of music from Stock, Aitken and Waterman’ ten years at the top of the pops, I Should Be So Lucky blasts hits such as “Especially for You”, “Venus” and “Never Gonna Give You Up” at volume eleven. Jason Gilkison’s excellent choreography keeps the party bouncing as the characters vault through Tom Rogers’ West End-ready set design, and Howard Hudson's playful lighting effects sparkle with all the shimmer of an all-inclusive cocktail.
With a plot which at times makes Hollyoaks look like Hamlet, the soapy twists and turns of this show at times take a three-hour flight from sense: life-shattering plot points could have been undone with a short conversation. Still, we accept Much Ado About Nothing in Shakespeare, and this remains a fast-paced frolic of a show, even if some of the book’s jokes narrowly pass the boundaries of modern acceptability.
Nativity! writer Debbie Isitt’s plot walks on the same sandy beaches as Mamma Mia!, bending camply towards Benidorm with a dirty pint in its hands during its bawdier moments. The result is a well-written show of quickly loveable characters which never stumbles into a drunken hen night but still brings the party again and again.
And what a night out with this West End worthy cast would be! The massive ensemble bounces with life in every second. As lads-lads-lads lad Ash, Giovanni Spano teases every drop of boyish humour out of Isitt’s script whilst Lucie-Mae Sumner carries her lead character’s vulnerability lightly before some delivering original-beating performances from the Hit Factory.
Jamie Chapman is outstanding as Spencer the resort manager, a part rehearsed with an actor’s sense of humour, whilst Kayla Carter’s beautifully performed “You’ll Never Stop Me Loving You” found a rare moment of original feeling beyond the expected sound of bleeps and bops.
Indeed, Stock, Aikman and Waterman’s biggest strength is perhaps the production’s difficulty - the trio of hitmakers understood the science of their own success so completely that there is a risk of repetitive strain injury for the musical director. With over thirty stylistically-similar songs, I Should Be So Lucky can’t really paint emotion in the same hues as the ballads and bangers of the obviously comparable ABBA Mega-Musical.
Does it matter to the audience? Absolutely not! The theatre glowed like a Dalaman sunset and a tide of excitement flooded the stalls every time they recognised the opening beats of a childhood favourite. This is nostalgia theatre which picks up a cassette tape and has people dancing like their teenage selves - the rapturous standing ovation it received at the curtain call felt like a reunion of old friends, and no weaknesses in script or sense can undermine what hearing those songs meant to those people.
With more hits from the eighties than Jim Bowen’s dartboard, I Should Be So Lucky is a fun and flirty holiday musical which will brighten the darkest night.
I Should Be So Lucky is at the King's Theatre in Glasgow until February 17, 2024 before continuing its tour. For further details, please check the production's website.
Photographer: Marc Brenner
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