Skip to main content

Review of I Should Be So Lucky at Milton Keynes Theatre

Even after so many years of attending theatre shows, it never ceases to amaze me how utterly varied the medium can be. Just this year on the Milton Keynes Theatre stage I have seen a ballet version of the quirky Edward Scissorhands, a truly absorbing stage version of classic thriller 12 Angry Men, and then, this week, a cheese overload in the form of I Should Be So Lucky - The Musical, and guess what, they were all totally brilliant.

I Should Be So Lucky is, an extremely loosely plotted story, based around the musical productions of Stoke Aitken Waterman and while it is not high-brow theatre, it is pure joy from beginning to end. The story, such as it is, sees Ella jilted at the altar by Nathan, and her decision to go out on her honeymoon anyway with her friends and family, all passport-ready and in tow. Nathan however, quickly has second thoughts, as his reasoning is questioned following a chat with his dementia-addled granddad. And off we go on a world of bold colours, adventures, crazy characters, and of course, a brilliant collection of retro music.

What is first obvious about the cast of I Should Be So Lucky is the unshowy nature of the casting, here we have a full ensemble of ultra-talented stage performers without the need to cast "a name" to bring the audience in. Well, except for the occasional presence of fairy godmother Kylie Minogue in pre-recorded sequences, all of which, it has to be said are excellently done and incorporated, both technically and timing.

However, the live cast is where it is at, and leading this is the least bold character of English Rose Ella, played with delightful charm by Lucie-Mae Sumner. It is true that at every turn the character of Ella is cast by the shadow of a bigger personality in this story, but upon her, the show leans and moves forward, and Sumner is excellent within the chaos that occurs around her.

From there, it is extremely difficult to mention all of the large cast in this production individually, however, they all bring something fabulous to proceedings. Among the picks is Giovanni Spano as best man Ash, a sprightly energy-filled performance full of extremely quirky moments and a master of comic physicality. Jemma Churchill is a fruity Ivy, pining for her youth and with an eye for a bit of a young gentleman. Tegan Bannister, on as cover as Bonnie, brings a nice level of emotion to the character as her own individual love emerges within the story and her solo number is gorgeous and a nice calm musical moment within the show.

The brilliant, loud proud, and utterly camp Michael is played with a huge personality by Scott Paige, stealing many of the scenes he appears within and a delightful storyline leading to one of the best musical moments. Finally, of mention from the cast is the true scene stealer, Jamie Chapman, who, briefly appears as two excellent side characters initially, and then simply takes over many a scene as hotel manager Spencer. The epitome of staying in character throughout and making the very best of every piece of material given to him. Tremendous entertainment.

As is expected of the show, the bank catalogue of Stock Aitken Waterman is totally ransacked, and while a few songs are a little ramrodded into position to make the show, the bulk of the numbers do fit very comfortably within the moment of the show in which they appear. The best of them include Respectable, You Spin Me Round (Like A Record), and with a perfect twist on the song and huge fun, Toy Boy. All of the songs are excellently performed by both the cast and the band.

The set by Tom Rogers is as bright and camp as the show, and relies greatly on the heart motif throughout, including the home of Ella and her family at 19 Heart House. Choreographer Jason Gilkison, who has worked as creative director on Strictly Come Dancing for over ten years, fills the stage with movement and keeps the ensemble busy with his inventive work, and this alongside fast-paced direction by Debbie Isitt, who has also written the show, means there is never a dull moment on stage.

I Should Be So Lucky - The Musical is pure fluff, in equal measure as good or bad as you might expect. However, it is, actually, pure entertainment from beginning to end, bringing fun, joy, and, if you like the producer's work, and why wouldn't you, glorious music as well. You should be so lucky to get a ticket soon.

With a cheese overload, I Should Be So Lucky -The Musical provides absolutely endless fun.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Performance reviewed: Tuesday 5th March 2024 at the Milton Keynes Theatre.

I Should Be So Lucky - The Musical runs at Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday 9th March 2024.

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

Production photos: Marc Brenner


Popular posts from this blog

Review of Murder She Didn't Write at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Murder She Didn't Write , stopping off for a four-day run at Royal & Derngate on a lengthy UK tour, treads the now well-worn path of an improvisational evening of theatre entertainment. Unsurprisingly, from the title, this show from Degrees of Error's takes a murder mystery as its inspiration, with the story influenced by ideas from the audience each evening. Due to this, Murder She Didn't Write and a review are very much an individual affair. What I saw in my evening at the theatre will differ significantly from what the audience will see the following evening; however, the fine performers will remain. The touring cast, in no particular order, is Lizzy Skrzypiec, Rachael Procter-Lane, Peter Baker, Caitlin Campbell, Stephen Clements, Douglas Walker, Harry Allmark, Rosalind Beeson, Sylvia Bishop, Emily Brady, Alice Lamb, Sara Garrard, Peta Maurice and Matthew Whittle. For my performance, Skrzypiec, Procter-Lane, Baker, Walker, Bishop, and Clements were on stage alongsid...
Read more

Review of The Strange Tale of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

The Strange Tale of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel is perhaps the perfect antidote to the troubled times we are in, harking back to when things were perhaps simpler and mass media and the press were less in your face. Not to say that bigshot Charlie Chaplin didn't make a name for himself in more than just the movies he made. This though is a warm show, filled with love. This show is based on the very real tale of the 1910 ship heading course for New York, which aboard were Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel, unknown, but part of Fred Karno’s music hall troupe, and destined for different, but very major futures. Told by an Idiot's production with Theatre Royal Plymouth (and Royal & Derngate and Unity Theatre) breaks down the tale of the voyage of the SS Cairnrona with intriguingly created flashbacks of the life, generally of Charlie Chaplin. Therefore along the course of the voyage, we see Laurel's moment as understudy to Chaplin, the birth of Chaplin (brilliantly...
Read more

Review of The Pillowman at The Playhouse Theatre, Northampton

The Pillowman sounds such a friendly title, and to be fair, his story is one of the lighter aspects of Martin McDonagh's script. It still involves dead children though, if you want to get a clear vision of how dark this play is. Set in a police state of the future, Katurian (Toby Pugh) is taken in for the content of his often violent stories and a similarity to a spate of recent child killings. Here in detention cell 13, his police captors, Tupolski (Adrian Wyman) and Ariel (Steve While) play good cop, bad cop while holding over the threat of violence against Katurian's mentally disabled brother Michal (Patrick Morgan), being held in another cell. The Pillowman is clearly a very warped story, with the blackest of black comedy, and often also very offensive with it's racial stereotyping and disability. In fact, it is no surprise that a couple left in the interval, as I would happily admit that this play is far from everyone. I like a good black comedy though, and ...
Read more