I Should Be So Lucky - U.K. Tour

We were in this afternoon and I had a great time. It’s a fun show that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Also thought of seeing a midweek matinee in Woking but though there are loads of seats left, prices are ludicrously high (& I'm still an ATG member atm though may cancel before the equally risible price rise); also, as it's over a month away, there's a risk of further train strikes/overtime bans & experience shows that ATG won't help if those mean you're unable to attend. Nearer the time, maybe...

I really enjoyed this. Its a show that doesn't take itself too seriously. The audience all seemed to enjoy it and there was a party atmosphere during the finale.
I wouldn't say no to seeing it again.

Saw this in Woking last night.

It's ok I guess, it's not awful. The cast and singing was good, but I think the biggest problem is the source of song material. They're all just too soft and fluffy. There's no real hard hitting emotional song to get your teeth into.

The plot is a bit unnecessarily harsh at the start, I'm sure there's a better way to get the characters to Turkey than something that feels so, I don't know the best word for it, but it's just sad.

I don't know, the reason for the bride being jilted felt a bit weak, and the side plot does feel a but unnecessary.

Although I did really enjoy it, especially as the show doesn't take itself seriously, except the beach balls, being front row when I went, I had a few hit me on the back of the head - would happily get rid of them - and the drunk hen parties!

SAW music would go down pretty well with the middle aged Midland crowd who like a feel good musical. I'm in that age group and area btw. I'd imagine it would have a largely female audience and the pink pound could well be spent there too.

I'm still undecided whether to see it or not as I wasn't a SAW fan back in the day but there are a few performers in the cast who I like and might go and see anything decent they are in.

Apparently the performance at The Churchill Theatre was called off 10 minutes before it was due to start on Saturday evening, I wonder what’s going on!

Birmingham Alex has a scenic lift stage left to get the show into the building so if that has broken it wouldn't have been possible to get the show up, especially as I imagine this show is a tight one to get in and ready on a good day.  

This tour seems to have been a technical disaster from day one. When the show came to our venue the carpenters putting the set in didn't seem to have a clue what they were doing. The set isn't even that complicated it's largely 3 portals, and a few flying pieces. Many other weekly tours achieve this no problem. If the load outs from the previous venue are taking longer than they should then I wouldn't be surprised if things aren't turning up to the next venue on time and that's also having a knock on effect.

Either way when the audiences get chance to see this they largely seem to enjoy it, and it's making the regional theatres a load of money at the bar if nothing else.

Tonight's show looks like it is on but there is low availability for all B'ham shows so a fair few have hopefully rebooked.

With shows loading out and then going to another venue to load in how much thought is given to distances between venues. Shows won't likely go to towns too close together but you don't want to be going the length of the country say Newcastle to Southampton etc. The extra travelling time any hold ups can push a load in back.

I wonder if the show producers or the venue has to share the financial hit of a cancelled show?

Let's go red-flag spotting:

- Clichéd boy-loses-girl/boy-wins-back-girl story;
- Entirely predictable plot and dialogue;
- Caricatures rather than characters;
- Stereotypical gays;
- Stereotypical foreigners;
- Stereotypical Brits abroad;
- Pop songs shoe-horned in at every turn;
- On the high/low-brow-ometer, going seriously off the bottom of the scale;
- Cheesy intro voiceover from Pete Waterman.

This has one-star written all over it.

So, can someone explain please why I had a smile on my face throughout Tuesday night's show at the Birmingham Alex and came out feeling life wasn't quite so bleak after all?

I think it's because there's a very fine line between cheesiness done well and badly, and we're very much on the fine side here: the pungency is high and the taste is magnificent. Everything is manufactured perfectly.

The cast are all on fine form; the scenes move at pace, with set changes smooth and slick, and the brilliantly re-worked Stock-Aitken-Waterman tunes come so thick and fast that there isn't a moment to let up.

This may be dumb-downed theatre, but it's a hell of a lot of fun, and that's largely thanks to Debbie Issit's confident direction. I particularly enjoyed Lucie-Mae Sumner as the jilted bride and Jemma Churchill as her giving-it-large grandma.

My advice is neck a few Proseccos, switch off your brain, let down your hair (if, unlike me, you have any), and just savour this extra-mature Cheddar.

Four stars.

Act 1: 19:33-20:35
Show stop: 20:58-21:14 - front cloth jammed having been raised just one foot
Act 2: 21:14:22:15

Note: even without a show-stop, this production runs 15 minutes longer than the advertised 2:15.

We’re in the interval and I’m scared that my wife has gone to throw herself off the Upper Circle rather than the loo excuse she gave. Really pleased that all of these fabulous talented people are in work, but this really is trash isn’t it?