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Synopsis Twist and shout your way around swinging London with our ‘fab four’ as they discover the fashion, freedom, fun and music that inspired original girl power. Shimmy and shake to the infectious, soulful songs that made Petula Clark, Cilla Black, Lulu and Dusty Springfield legendary singers in this uplifting new musical, direct from New York by the producers of smash-hits Fame, Saturday Night Fever and Footloose. Whether you’re an original baby boomer or born in the 90s, Shout! is a celebration of an era everyone wishes they could have experienced - and now you can! Ready, steady, go! Featuring the pop anthems Downtown, Son Of A Preacher Man, I Only Wanna Be With You, These Boots Are Made For Walking, You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me and many more…. Based on an original idea by Philip George and David Lowenstein.
Hi-de-Hi’s Su Pollard has returned to the West End in the 1960s jukebox musical Shout!, which opened on 29 April 2009 (previews from 17 April) at the Arts Theatre, where it’s booking for a limited season to 28 June (See 1st Night Photos, 1 May 2009).
In Shout!, five gorgeous women and one lucky man twist and shout, shimmy and shake as they embark on a journey through the Swinging Sixties and more than 30 hits from the era including “Downtown”, “Son of a Preacher Man”, “I Only Wanna Be With You”, “To Sir With Love” and “These Boots Are Made for Walking”.
Shout! is based on an original idea by Phillip George and David Lowenstein and adapted for UK audiences by Julie Balloo. It’s directed and choreographed by Bill Deamer. First seen in this country at London’s Jermyn Street Theatre in 2001, when it was nominated for a Whatsonstage.com Award, it launched a major regional tour last year.
Critical views on the latest jukebox musical to hit the West End ran the gamut from one to four stars, with judgements seemingly largely dependent on the age of the reviewer in question and their nostalgia quotient for the Swinging Sixties. However, whether they ultimately enjoyed the evening’s entertainment or not, most agreed that, even if the book is “Twiggy” thin, the music of “belted-out ballads” is “delightful” and performed by a “strong and confident”, with particular praise for Su Pollard, Marisa Dunlop and Tiffany Graves.
Theo Bosanquet on Whatsonstage.com (two stars) – “As jukebox musicals go, Shout! has a bigger record collection than most. Almost 40 songs are featured (some only in part) during the course of a show not so much dripping with nostalgia as drowning in it. What there is of a storyline is atom-thin … The book, adapted by Julie Balloo from the American original, is dire. Tepid gags are fired out with machine-gun rapidity … as excuses to shoe-horn in the hits … But though Shout! may have quite literally lost the plot, its plethora of toe-tappers is served up by a talented cast whose palpable energy … Su Pollard does sterling work as 'wacky' aunt Yvonne … Shout! is a two-hour sprint down memory lane … The music is often delightful … and if you're willing to look past the by-numbers creative approach there's a good night out to be had.”
Fiona Mountford in the Evening Standard (one star) – “You can almost follow the producers’ recession-era train of thought. Blend 30-odd easy-access tunes from the Sixties, add in a sliver of storyline about three young women from the North moving downtown (I sense a song coming on) to London and top with Su Pollard saying ‘Flipping heck’. How could this not be a world-beating musical? Let me count the ways. It’s unclear who, if anyone, actually wrote Shout! …The choreography looks like something my goddaughter cooks up with her friends on a Saturday afternoon, and the amplification in [Bill Deamer’s] production means you could probably hear the entire thing by standing in Leicester Square. Pollard is loud and the others are game but with this sort of material there aren’t a whole lot of options.”
Sam Marlowe in The Times (two stars) – “Shout! retreads songs made famous by the likes of Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield and Lulu. There are some great tunes here, from the smoky ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ to a glittering handful of Bacharach gems, but their rendition, in director/choreographer Bill Deamer’s production, is so ear-splittingly over-amplified, so shrill and so often off-key that to enjoy them you’d need to have dropped some acid or at least sunk serious quantities of chardonnay. The skeletal story concerns three Northern lasses chasing their dreams in swinging London … It’s all very bright, brash and noisy. The dialogue is unashamedly contrived … The musical wears its shallowness on its psychedelic sleeve: politics or world events never prick the Day-Glo bubble of nostalgia, and any brief emotional crisis serves only as a cue for a song. If that’s all you require from an evening’s entertainment, then it’s just possible you’ll have a groovy time. But expect any more from this brainless, soulless show and you might find those boots were made for walking - towards the exit.”
Paul Callan in the Daily Express (four stars) – “Nearly 50 years on, the Sixties are a hazy memory of miniskirts, white leather boots, Carnaby Street, girls with Marty Quant-type fringes - and those four cheeky lads from Liverpool. If you are a certain age (like this critic) you'll remember the good times …This show sweeps us back to that cultural explosion with an evening of belted-out ballads … It is also a compelling reminder of what high-quality songs were written in a decade that also witnessed immense social change …The plot is as thin as Twiggy at the time … Su Pollard can belt out a song like Marie Lloyd and rightly received several loud ovations. Marissa Dunlop (and) Tiffany Graves … both possess strong, confident voices, perfectly suited to a high-energy show such as Shout!. My only quibble is their occasionally clumsy dancing … This delightful evening is awash with nostalgia and everyone joins in the finale. I went home humming ‘Those Were the Days’ and wondering whatever happened to my old zip Chelsea Boots. Grooy, man.”
Charles Spencer in the Daily Telegraph - “Shout! is a cheap and cheerful jukebox musical …The script – and no one seems prepared to own up to writing it – is a stinker of lame jokes, vestigial plotting and inaccurate historical narrative. The songs however, once immortalised by Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black, Lulu and Petula Clark, are performed with brio, and sound as fresh and engaging as ever. Su Pollard plays a garrulous hairdresser with her usual over-the-top glee, while Marissa Dunlop lends a touch of real class to this somewhat tacky show as the sexiest new arrival in the smoke. You would, however, enjoy a far more authentic Sixties experience by buying a decent compilation album along with DVDs of Michael Caine in Alfie and Rita Tushingham in The Knack.”
As jukebox musicals go, Shout! has a bigger record collection than most. Almost 40 songs are featured (some only in part) during the course of a show not so much dripping with nostalgia as drowning in it.
What there is of a storyline is atom-thin; three Northern dollybirds head for the bright lights of Swinging Sixties London, landing at the Peckham hair salon of eccentric aunt Yvonne (Su Pollard). As they fall in and out of love over the course of a decade, they journey through Beatlemania, hippies and the moon-landing until they're finally spat out the other side in various states of marriage, pregnancy and employment.
The book, adapted by Julie Balloo from the American original, is dire. Tepid gags are fired out with machine-gun rapidity (eg “it's my raison d'être”, “ooh you can get pills for that”), as excuses to shoe-horn in the hits and are snuffled out at every opportunity; naturally one of the girls falls in love with a man called Bobby (cue “Bobby's Girl”) and they all go strolling 'downtown' in a pair of boots quite clearly made for walking. It's like watching a strange kind of pop music pornography.
But though Shout! may have quite literally lost the plot, its plethora of toe-tappers is served up by a talented cast whose palpable energy, particularly in the second half, just about saves the show from the abyss. Marissa Dunlop, Shona White and Tiffany Graves make for a formidable trio (Graves is especially strong) while Su Pollard does sterling work as 'wacky' aunt Yvonne. It's just a shame the lines are so limp, because as we all know no one serves up a decent double better than she.
As the sole male cast member (aside from a cameo appearance by the assistant stage manager), John Jack has a busy time. He pops up between numbers to perform a series of mock adverts (which, though occasionally funny, are annoyingly frequent) or to play a variety of cameos from a two-timing playboy to a 'hirsuted and booted' Spanish waiter.
Shout! is a two-hour sprint down memory lane. Period clichés are dished out like sweets while the cast jump in and out of a range of miniskirts, polo-necks and of course those aforementioned boots. The music is often delightful (stand-outs including “Colour My World”, “Those Were the Days” and “You're My World”), and if you're willing to look past the by-numbers creative approach there's a good night out to be had.
- Theo Bosanquet
For our review of this show from the 2008 tour, click here; for the 2001 Jermyn Street production, click here.
Great night out, great performances, Brilliant vocals the girls have great voices although strong Tiffany Graves voice can annoy at times but she is so lovely I just look at her and forget the voice for a second. I think Shona White should be given more solo's because she is amazing. Also suprised by Su Pollards vocals which were really good and in tune which I didn't expect and she was very funny too especially when trying to dance just hilarious. Book your tickets now let your hair down and enjoy this very entertaining show. - Michael
15 May 09
Really enjoyed this and the duet with Sue Pollard is one of the best duets I've ever seen. If u like to be cheered up go see it. - Mikey
07 May 09
For people wanting to sing along and tap their feet to the familiar songs of the 60's this is a trip down nostalgia lane... - Eileen
30 Apr 09
I had a fantastic time! The show is brilliant. The cast is really fabulous. Su Pollard is hilarious. It is fun night out. - Tori Sabine
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