Show review: Now That’s What I Call a Musical

Bit of a weird one, this.  First: what’s with the wall-to-wall 80’s and 90’s nostalgia?  It’s everywhere… there’s so much that we’re all drowning in Sunny Delight.

Second: of all the nostalgia musicals I’ve seen recently, this is the nostalgiest: the most shameless cash-in of the lot.  It’s like someone gave themselves a minute to scribble a list of 80’s cultural references, then took a bog-standard ‘women’s friendship story’ and shoved them all in.

“But…” you can imagine a sharp someone asking, staring down at the crayon-written script,“…why does a man shuffle onto the stage and, apropos of nothing really, start singing the entire ‘Waffly Versatile’ song from that old advert?”  “Because that advert was on telly when the audience were kids!” comes the reply.  “They’ll laugh and they’ll love it.”

Mad thing is, they do.

There’s also an infertility plotline that I found borderline offensive: not just as a childfree woman (because why can’t women without kids ever actively choose that state in shows like these?  It feels weird and taboo and it shouldn’t) but on behalf of women who can’t have kids in real life.  It’s got the potential to blindside them, because this is supposed to be a fun, feelgood musical that won’t remind you of the unspoken emotional shit you carry around with you all. the. time.

Yeah, so… as I say, bit of a weird one.  Enjoy.