MUSICAL REVIEW: Dreamboats and Miniskirts ★★★

Dreamboats and Miniskirts
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
Tuesday 11th November 2014

Straight from the get go of Dreamcoats and Miniskirts, we are transformed back to 1962, in the TV Studio of 'Thank Your Lucky Stars', with a rendition of 'A Picture of You', and with the backdrops of photos from the era, the show's sign hanging in the air, and the way the performers on stage are dressed, you really feel apart of the show, and it gives you a feel as to what the show has in store, because for the next two hours, we are treated to an array of different songs from many musicians from the era, and the whole show together is has a great feel to it, having the audience enjoying every song.

Starting off with a poor performance on 'Thank Your Lucky Stars', with their hit Dreamboats and Petticoats, Bobby abandons Laura at the TV studio and heads back to his previous band The Conquests, to continue full time with them. They accept him back and go to Liverpool to perform 'Venus in Blue Jeans', and after this, they call upon former member Norman to join back the group and Laura suggests that Bobby is not suited as the lead singer of the group. Norman soon rejoins the band, but after Bobby signs a contract for the band to record his and Laura's song 'Time Won't Stand Still', without Laura knowing, she soon finds out after going to the studio to record that exact song with the same producer, and has an argument with Bobby.

A year later, in 1963, and Bobby is now a fully member of the conquests, getting a record deal and going on a nationwide tour, but the fallout from Laura is still playing on his mind, and we find that Laura still has the same feelings for Bobby. The way that Alex and Elizabeth both play their characters in the show, and the chemistry that they have on stage, makes the whole story really fit together with the rest of the characters injected into the show. The music on stage is really electric, and that's helped by a brilliant cast with voices to fit, with the majority, if not all the cast, sounding distinctly similar to the artists they are portraying.

I really enjoyed this production, even if they're songs that I may not have been that familiar with. The thing that I really enjoyed the most though was the just the chemistry, the wit of humor from the cast, the live band on stage, and just the feeling that for two hours, you forget everything about your day, and are transported into this era were the music coming from it really defining the music generation we have today.