Review of The Drifters Girl at Milton Keynes Theatre

This new musical The Drifters Girl first opened in Newcastle as recent at October 2021 and since then it has gained quite a success. Transferring to London and running for several months at the Garrick, it became a greater success thanks to the casting of Beverley Knight in the lead role of unforgiving Drifters manager Faye Treadwell. Its success there saw this UK and Ireland tour which now lands at Milton Keynes for one week.

Knight has gone now, having moved on from the show before it left London, and in her place at Milton Keynes Theatre and on as first cover, was Loren Anderson, on for main lead Carly Mercedes Dyer. She is a controlling presence in the lead, and tries hard to make Treadwell likeable, because, in many ways, she isn't a nice person. Her drive for success, following her effective falling into the role after meeting then Drifters manager George Treadwell, feels exploitative at times of the coming and going members of The Drifters.

However, maybe I am already ahead of myself, as like this review is doing, The Drifters Girl needs a little calm and maybe even knowledge of the events it is telling. It turns out you see, that over many, many years, from its initial formation in 1953, the group known as The Drifters has had simply dozens of members as the group has a constant revolving door membership, and a certain lawsuit as well, but I will let the show tell you that.

Other than the mysterious "Girl" played delightfully by Jayden Bell-Ricketts, the rest of the cast consists of the four men playing The Drifters and every other character in fact. These are a very hardworking four, literally grabbing a coat, taking one-off, a pair of glasses or even more delightful accoutrements to become any number of characters. The four, played by Miles Anthony Daley, Tarik Frimpong, Dalton Harris and on as cover Ethan Davis are tremendous. Each character is distinctly different to allow you to know who you are watching despite the pace of change and at times even the singing styles change. Davis in particular has the most famous current/former Drifters performer in Ben E. King and he is fabulous in his solo number following his split, and yes, it is that song.

This show, very clearly signposted as a jukebox musical, has a multitude of tunes still very familiar and each is presented beautifully by the cast. This coupled with the look of the show being tremendous from the costumes to the lighting and some impressive projections, makes this very easy on the eye and ear.

Ed Curtis' book is great fun, much in the vein and style of Jersey Boys, but actually much funnier, particularly in the second act, which includes a highly amusing trip to England, which the cast has great fun with. The show itself culminates rather quickly with an almost fairytale finish, which with a little research is a long way from reality. However, these shows often take a little artistic licence, so, this matters little.

The Drifters Girl is hugely entertaining, no question. It is fast-paced, superbly performed and with some incredible tunes of the day. The audience really did enjoy this notalgia trip, be they there originally, or getting an experience of what life and music used to be.

A fascinating tale told to the backdrop of classic music melodies.
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Performance reviewed: Wednesday 25th October 2023 at the Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes.

The Drifters Girl runs at Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday 28th October 2023.

For further details about Milton Keynes see their website at http://www.atgtickets.com/venues/milton-keynes-theatre/

Photos: Johan Persson