This new tour from Bill Kenwright Ltd brings the Watermill Theatre’s 2024 production to a nationwide audience, with West End star, Lee Mead as 19^th century circus impresario Phineas Taylor (P.T.) Barnum.

The Watermill, of course, is a much smaller venue than Manchester’s Palace Theatre, so the Kenwright company has its work cut out to fill the stage with the same buzz of a bustling circus ring.

In recent years the musical has been superseded by ‘The Greatest Showman’ film starring Hugh Jackman. But since that hasn’t been produced as a live show yet, for fans of the story, there is still plenty to enjoy here, even if you don’t know all the tunes to sing-a-long.

‘Come Follow the Band’, by CY Coleman ad Michael Stewart, is probably the most well-known song from the show. It is perfectly apt for this production that fills the stage with a large ensemble of actor musicians playing 150 instruments.

There are also fabulous puppeteers bringing us a life-sized elephant, awe-inspiring aerial acts, acrobatics, fire eaters and contortionists. At one point a circus performer accurately fires a cross bow with her feet while upside down, which is just one of many impressive feats going on in the background throughout this jam-packed performance.

Mead, as Barnum, is central to the success of this show. He has the voice, the killer smile and has mastered the high wire with a real sense of jeopardy for the audience. Perhaps it is his generosity towards the rest of the cast that is preventing him from really excelling in this role. While this production is a strong ensemble piece, a stage the size of the Palace demands P.T. Barnum is not just the brains behind the greatest show, he is himself the world’s greatest showman. He is the star, and for this production to truly soar he needs the freedom to shine brighter.

Barnum is at The Palace Theatre, Manchester from 10-14 February 2026 before continuing on tour.

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Created by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr., Miss Saigon reimagines Puccini’s Madama Butterfly – shifting the action to Vietnam during the final days of the war and the fall of Saigon in 1975. Over the decades it has attracted both acclaim and controversy, but this production steers closer to emotional and political clarity than most. It gives the story a contemporary resonance without sacrificing its operatic scale.

I felt privileged to see what I believe to be one of the best casts in any show I have ever seen. Seann Miley Moore’s Engineer is nothing short of a revelation. I cannot say enough about this performance. Moore brings swagger, danger, needle-sharp timing and a charisma that shimmers between comedy and horror. It’s the kind of performance you feel lucky to witness, and now I can say ‘I saw them play the Engineer in Manchester, I was there to see who I believed, would turn out to be a legend’.

There has been some criticism of shaving down the production meaning less impact. I would disagree. For instance – the use of animation and projected design by George Reeve is a strong asset to this production. The exodus from Saigon to Bangkok – the boat on the ocean, the wash of light, the echo of past horrors meeting the refugee crises of today – lands with astonishing force. The visuals melt into the story in a way that deepens the emotional ocean rather than floating an idea of it. For me, compromising on aspects that were spectacle in earlier productions, allows for a big cast, and that is what I appreciate. That’s work for more people in a difficult industry. I believe, the cuts are in the right place. And nothing is budget about this production.

Jack Kane’s Chris is played with precision, and this staging allows something I’ve wanted to see the last time but it didn’t quite reach. Kane gives us a Chris who carries the horror of war and the guilt of his choices. His relationship with Kim feels, here, like something he used to decorate his trauma – a connection he couldn’t maintain and a responsibility he didn’t fully own. There’s a sense he could have done more. It exposes the self-serving and his terrible experiences taking effect on his choices, in a way that feels closer to the truth of what a soldier experiences.

Opposite him, Julianne Pundan’s Kim is extraordinary. She is utterly believable from her first moment to her last: steadfast, tender, fierce, doomed. Pundan’s voice and emotional truths are the heart of the entire show. You cannot look away from her. She embodies brave love and the devastation, the demolition of a true heart in a terrible war.

And then there’s Moore’s Engineer again – because he truly holds the centre. What makes the character fascinating is his honesty: he is openly self-serving, openly sleazy, openly opportunistic. Chris hides behind the myth of being morally torn. Ellen hides behind middle-class Western righteousness. The Engineer hides nothing. So when Moore tears into “The American Dream,” the audience erupts. The number becomes a glittering, rotten masterpiece – a beautiful bitch of a sequence where satire, violence, patriotism and fantasy merge into something unforgettable. He lifts the embroidered silken veil of Vietnam and shows the blood beneath it; the dreams of America become stripes and sequins stuck to a desperate fool. It’s mesmerising, horrifying, exhilarating.

The tragedy of Miss Saigon endures because no one escapes unscathed. The score remains one of the strongest ever written for musical theatre. The book – when handled with clarity instead of varnish – exposes the truth that men can go blindly into war, devastate lives, misunderstand everything, and then move on. This production edges closer to that truth than most. It is harrowing. It is spectacular. And it is, without question, worth seeing. I feel I can speak for future audiences of this production when I say – this is theatre at its best.

Miss Saigon is at The Palace Theatre, Manchester from 4-15 November 2025.

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The story centres around four shift pals at seaside supermarket Better Best Buys. They rib each other, lift each other’s spirits and hope for the absolute best. Caz (fabulous captain of the Here and Now ship, Rebecca Lock), is going through the process of adoption with her sparky partner Gareth (Chris Grahamson). Gorgeous straight talking Vel (Jacqui Dubois) knows the light has gone out on her relationship with Lesley (John Stacey) and she needs to dump him (John Stacey absolutely living the dance routines in act two gave me joy). Young creative Neeta (Rosie Singha) makes avant garde food-based portraits of celebrities and finds every excuse not to tell affable fitty Ben (Ben Darcy) that she adores him. Then there’s young carefree gay Robbie (Blake Patrick Anderson), he’s free and easy although the girls believe he’s looking for more than that really. When we meet the gang, Caz is gearing everyone up ready for better days ahead, that may just be kickstarted by her upcoming 50th.

There’s a lot to get the gist of in the first 10 mins and thanks to the expertise of Shaun Kitchener, who is a multi-story master, we easily hold all these narrative threads.  I especially enjoyed the light touch of the love story of Robbie and drag queen Jem (River Medway giving Eartha Kitt via a tray of chips realness) not heavy with conflict, just naturally played out in a really sweet way. These threads are tied up with golden, well place Steps songs arranged by Matt Spencer-Smith, until we are fully stocked up on resolutions by the time we are on our feet for the finale.

Tom Rogers clever set frames the production with the whole proscenium arch holding concert lighting cleverly integrated as stocked up shelves. On stage, tills and shelves are wheeled around to indicate different places around the supermarket. The bright lights of BBB are complemented by a glimpse of real hope beyond the doors – the open ocean. This harmonises with the themes of putting yourself out there and embracing the chills and thrills of life in the hope of one day riding high on life. The cast rock tabards designed by Gabriella Slade all the way through the show from hot pink on the tills, to yellow with gold bananas on if they are doing the fruit and veg.

It’s not hard to see why people are calling Here and Now the new Mamma Mia. I liked it a bit more than Mamma Mia actually, because I can’t afford to go to Santorini, but I can defo go to a supermarket by the sea. And the stories were a mix of camp melodrama weighted underneath by the heartbreak of maternal Caz who knows she was, is, and always will be – a mum.

The show is something special and not least because with Robbie and Caz, it celebrates a beautiful connection between an important theatre demographic. With Robbie, gay men who may have loved Steps since they were their secret sanctuary, can see a story where the hatred of the world doesn’t go to do its shopping. With Caz, we have an archetype of the women who carry and tend to the world. They also, in my experience (cos I am one), like musicals that let them feel like girls again. I don’t think of this in a cynical way, I think of this as giving an audience a story that elevates them.  Here and Now puts a call out over the Tannoy – ‘could all the Robbies please go to aisles 5, 6, 7, 8 where the Cazs are waiting for them. Thank you.’

Here and Now is a really good time. And no one loved the evening more than Steps themselves. Right before the show started and the audience were settled, in they came to take their seats. Decked out in silver and white, waving, smiling and engaging with an audience that were enthralled to see them. They were best placed for everyone in the stalls to see them enjoying their songs and the show. I felt good for them. And for me. Everything turned out the best it could be.

My advice is – go and see it before it’s riding the seventh wave in the West End.

Here & Now the Steps Musical is at the Opera House, Manchester from 2 to 13 September 2025 before continuing on tour. Read our interview with the cast.

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This show is so spectacular you have to say it twice to grasp the excess on display here. It is worth arriving a little early just to soak in the atmosphere. The auditorium is bathed in red light – turning everything and everyone in it rouge, while the stage seems to stretch back forever, drawing us into the depths of its heart. Those sitting at the back of the stalls might want to wander a little forward and look up to the boxes, where there is a spinning windmill and a giant blue elephant. On stage there are burlesque dancers and sword swallowers – all before the opening can-can welcome to the famous nightclub that is the Moulin Rouge!

You’ve entered a world of extremes – of bohemians and aristocrats, romance and fantasy. Everything here is pushed to excess, even the music, with no fewer than 70 songs in a whirlwind 2 hours and 40 minutes.

How do they fit it all in? Well, we don’t hear the full tracks, rather the score is a clever mix of snippets from well-known hits. Fans of the 2001 Baz Luhrmann’s film will be pleased to hear the original song, ‘Come What May’ still has its prominent romantic pull. More than 20 years on the theatre show brings with it some musical updates, adding Katy Perry, Lady Gaga Gaga, Lorde and Rihanna to name just a few artists whose songs are sampled alongside those from the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Madonna and The Police.

Again, the billing is fair here, describing the show as a ‘musical mash-up extravaganza’. To call it a juke box musical would give the wrong impression. The integration songs is seamless. And it doesn’t matter if you don’t recognise some of the tunes because they’ve been mashed together to create something new and fun.

All this and we still haven’t got to the story. It’s Paris, 1899 and despite all the outward glamour and glitz, the famous Moulin Rouge nightclub is struggling financially. It’s saviour comes in different guises – there is its star Sabine (Verity Thompson), who makes a swinging entrance to Shirley Bassey’s ‘Diamonds Are Forever’;  the bohemian artists – American songwriter, Christian (played by Josh Rose on the night we saw it), long-suffering artist, Toulouse-Lautrec (Kurt Kansley) and Argentinian tango maestro Santiago (Rodrigo Negrini) – and finally the man with the cash, The Duke (a deliciously dastardly James Bryers). 

Each of these characters could have a role to play in the club’s ongoing success, but the jeopardy comes because the Duke is not only wealthy, he is also entitled. When host Harold Zidler (Cameron Blakely) shmoozes him to invest, the Duke believes his money has bought the club, its shows and the lives of all the performers along with it. Poor Sabine, torn between her love for the penniless Christian, whose only gift is his song, and the domineering Duke whose fortune is keeping her and her fellow performers off the streets. And because this is a show of excess, romantic and financial woes aren’t the only challenges our heroine has to face – Sabine is also covering a serious illness with a smile and show must go on attitude.

Every one of this high energy, talented cast draws us into the fantastical world that is Moulin Rouge, but it is the spectacle of it, rather than the story or any one tune, that leaves a lasting stamp on the memory. This is a show where the costume, lighting, scenery, choreography, and performers come together to blast our senses into a world of fabulous fun that is true escapism. Go and be dazzled.

Moulin Rouge is at the Palace Theatre, Manchester from 20 August to 4 October 2025 before continuing on tour.

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Yes, we’re back in the days when compiling your favourite hits meant having to quickly press play and record on a cassette player while listening to the chart show on the radio. Sounds like hard work. The record companies thought so too, and in 1983 they did the job for us by compiling all the top tunes of the year on one album – Now That’s What I Call Music.

That album of albums is now in its fifth decade, having spawned 116 different editions and more than 120 million sales. Now Music is the ultimate jukebox album, so it was only a matter of time before it became the soundtrack to its own jukebox musical.

The theme of the night is nostalgia and what better way to start a trip down memory lane than a school reunion. The class of ’89 are back together for a karaoke sing-a-long – a reminder that bedroom singing rarely gets any better and their lives didn’t quite turn out as their teenage selves imagined.

Centre stage are two friends, Gemma and April, except for the whole first act the real friendship is between Gemma and her brother, Frank, who despite never leaving Birmingham seem like they’ve walked into a parallel universe. Who are these people they used to go to school with and how did they grow up to be so rude?

Thankfully EastEnders’ star Nina Wadia’s immensely likeable Gemma and her easy relationship with brother Frank (Shakil Hussain) sit like a fully considered album among this chaotic mix.

Gemma’s teenage memories are acted out by an energetic pair, Nikita Johal as younger Gemma and Maia Hawkins, making a confident stage debut as younger April.

Pippa Evans’ lightly comic script is littered with popular culture references from 80s films like Dirty Dancing and Karate Kid to adverts for Walls sausages and Potato Waffles – in case you forgot, they’re waffly versatile. And like the Now albums there is a pick and mix of 80s hits, sung just long enough to give us the best bits before the cast are off to something else.

Strictly Judge, Craig Revel Horwood’s direction and choreography sticks strongly to the dreamscape theme, bringing ballroom couples and impressive lifts into this backstreet boozer. In other scenes memorable 80s music videos merge with real-life, setting the audience up for the surreal moments later when we get to meet glittering guest star, Sonia (playing herself) – whose voice is still strong and who sings her hits just as you remember them.

The pace picks up in the second act with fairy godmother Sonia and the return of long-lost friend, April in the form of X-Factor winner, Sam Bailey. Hearing the two of them you almost want to shout at the stage – Now! That’s what I call a singer.

Better the Devil you Know, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Video Killed the Radio Star, Tainted Love, Hey Mickey and Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves are just some of the many hits in this new comedy musical. Guest stars elsewhere on the tour include Sinitta, Sonia, T’Pau’s Carol Decker and Toyah Willcox.

NOW! That’s What I Call A Musical is at the Opera House, Manchester from 28 January to 1 February 2025.

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Dodie Smith’s children’s book is most well-known for its Disney screen adaptations: the classic 1961 animation and 1996 live-action version starring Glenn Close as the most wicked of villains Cruella De Vil.

This musical stage adaptation by Zinnie Harrie takes the basic plot of the story and its colourful characters adding some modern twists and a whole new score by Douglas Hodge.

The show opens with a filthy dalmatian stray being taken into a dog’s home where a chorus of caged dogs of all shapes and sizes sing for someone, anyone to take them home.

Who with a heart could ignore their puppy dog eyes? Well certainly not the lovely dog warden Danielle (Jessie Elland – Emmerdale’s Chloe Harris). The poor dog’s smelly state earns him the name Pongo, but when a soapy bath reveals his beautiful spotted coat, Danielle is smitten.

One good turn deserves another, so Pongo decides it’s time to do some rescuing of kind but lonely Danielle. As luck would have it, he meets Perdi and Tom (Samuel Thomas) in the park. A few orchestrated twirls of the lead later and they are all wrapped up in love with a litter of puppies on the way. What could go wrong?

Enter Kym Marsh, setting out a stall to have pantomime companies fighting to cast her as their next and best villain. As fashionista Cruella De Vil, who will stop at nothing to get her unique coat of dalmatian puppy fur, Marsh strikes the perfect family balance between fearsome and funny. Her comic timing hits every time, making for genuine laugh out loud moments. Most importantly for a musical, Marsh, who started out in Popstars band Hear’say, can belt out an impressive tune. Being a new musical none of the songs are instantly familiar, but the live band and strong vocals makes for an enjoyable musical experience that carries the story along with all the fun of a litter of pups.

Charles Brunton and Danny Hendrix bring light-hearted foolery to Casper and Jasper, Cruella’s nephews and hapless accomplishes in crime. But the reason we care so much is because our hearts have been won by the tremendous puppetry that brings the dalmatian family to life.

Linford Johnson and Emma Thornett act, sing and control the puppet strings for Pongo and Perdi making us believe in their joyous, playful leaps as if we were watching real dogs on stage.

But what about the real dalmatian puppy you’ve seen with Kym Marsh in the pre-publicity images? Well, there may just be another surprise to up the feel-good ante.

Oh, my heart melts – take me home quickly to hug my dog.

Runaway Entertainment’s 101 Dalmatians The Musical is at The Palace Theatre, Manchester from 30 July to 10 August 2024 before continuing on its first UK tour.

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The story and music will be familiar to many as it is based on the popular 1992 animated film, which was later adapted as a live-action screen version in 2019 starring Will Smith.

The stage version has been running on Broadway for 20 years and this current tour is the UK’s West End production. In addition to the classic songs from the film there are some new numbers, including the emotional ‘Proud of Your Boy’ with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin. As you would expect from an entertainment giant like Disney, no expense has been spared in taking this show on the road. It fills every inch of the Palace’s Theatre stage with sparkling energy from the opening dance number to the glittering finale.

Bob Crowley showcases why he is a seven-time Tony-winning scenic designer with vibrant sets which pop with colour, transporting us to the mythical land of Agrabah with its bustling marketplace, opulent palaces, star-filled skies and magical caves decorated with gold. And to add to the magic, illusion designers, Jim Steinmeyer and Rob Lake have created some spectacular effects, including a quick turning, flying carpet.

While all that glitters isn’t gold, this production certainly is, with a terrific orchestra led by Dave Rose and solid performances all round. And once the genie is out of the bottle there is no turning back – we are all hooked under Yeukayi Ushe’s energetic spell. His big number ‘Friend Like Me’ is raucously joyful and even includes a clever Disney medley from Beauty and the Beast to the Little Mermaid that has everyone cheering at hearing their favourite Disney hits.

Gavin Adams makes an impressive stage debut as Aladdin, our likeable hero whose adventure takes him from street busker to mini-Indiana Jones; from master of the lamp to romantic lead. Adam Strong and his evil laugh is a towering presence as the scheming Jafar who makes for some great pantomime-style tension with his side-kick, Iago (Angelo Paragoso). While Desmonda Cathabel makes a sparky Princess Jasmine, who gives little girls a heroine with independence and attitude they can root for.

The choreography is slick and absorbing, with some comedy swash-buckling alongside the big-scale numbers. It’s a breathtaking ride of pure, family fun, escapism that will leave you singing all the way home.

Disney’s Aladdin is at The Palace Theatre, Manchester from 22 May to 7 July 2024.

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Alec (Baker Mukasa), takes dirt from Laura’s (Hannah Azuonye) eye in a train station café and it leaves an indelible mark on both of them. Enchanted by their unfamiliarity, Alec and Laura stop at nothing to meet on Thursdays. They unpeel their sensibilities in giddy conversations. No one wants romance to be seedy, but it winds up being rubbished by a farcical moment of reality that wakes Laura up from the spell. The twinkle in her eye is tarnished. They depart via their other worlds intercepting.

Meanwhile, Myrtle (Christina Modestou) the station café manager and Fred (Richard Glaves) the platform guard try to professionally conceal their own blossoming goings on. Beryl (Ida Regan) the waitress and Stanley (Georgia Frost) the sundries seller are nurturing love’s young dream with little gifts and doings round the back. And all the characters try to edge closer to affection cautiously. It’s a tale of unbridled passion with cups of tea and coats on.

Emma Rice’s adaptation which lends itself to many nuances, is thoughtfully mined by Sarah Frankcom’s direction. Frankcom has paired the story with Noel Coward’s well-known bangers. The production manages to be both silly and serious, which is not an easy balance, but Frankcom does this to great effect. The music directed and arranged by uber-talented Matthew Malone lifts the thoughts and emotional journeys of the characters in a poetic tribute to Coward’s storytelling in both music and in scripting.

Having a live score focuses on something only theatre can really do and that is to give us a live experience of the scope of the talent of all the team and that is the real treat of the show. The performance of the songs, showcase this cast of talented creatives which was received as well as an early Christmas present by the press night audience. If I have a wish for you all this Christmas is that you get to experience Ida Regan as Myrtle singing Mad About The Boy.

It’s a fun and very special show.

But something that becomes starkly obvious in this production, in the tone and delivery Frankcom has encouraged, is the subtext heavy relationship between Alec and his friend Stephen whose flat Alec has a spare key to. On almost catching Alec at it, Stephen is blasé at first and makes some cautious yet deliberate references to his own private life, something that he knows that Alec is prithee to. Stephen is okay seems okay with Alec having an affair initially but somehow Alec has overstepped a different boundary. Stephen asks Alec for the key back. There is something between the two men, another layer of understanding that we aren’t entirely invited in on. The fact that this can never be stated by the writers, or any production is enticing to me and I like to make my own mind up as to why Stephen suddenly changes how he feels and Alec is left shamed.

As I wait on the tram platform to make my own journey home, the wooden scenery in front of me is the Christmas shed’s opposite Exchange Square tram stop. All the woollen hats and sausages are put to bed inside them now. The message in lights above the shelter of the tram stop reminds travellers that staring at someone is offensive, as a drunk guy in a deer stalker sways gently beside me. And I am remembering how many chancers in the past pestered me on the way home. And briefly I thought about Stephen’s available serviced flat, and how we know very little about Alec in Brief Encounter. And how easily he could have the afternoon off considering he is a doctor. And I’m thinking, hang on…is Alec actually full of shit? Lucky escape, Laura.

Brief Encounter is at The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester from 2 December 2023 to 13 January 2024. Age guidance 12+

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Kate Pankhurst’s book, adapted for the stage by Chris Bush, is threaded along the tale of 11-year-old Jade, who turns up late for a school trip (not her fault, of course), takes a wrong turn and finds herself in a section of the local museum currently closed to the public.

The set is simple but effective. At stage level, props morph into scenery, while three musicians (Nicola T. Chang – percussion and keys; Isis Dunthorne – drums; Audra Cramer – MD and keys) sit on high.

Jade’s unscheduled trespass into the upcoming exhibition of ‘Fantastically Great Women’, triggers a life-changing series of encounters with some of the female titans of history.

First up (very snazzily attired, courtesy of Joanna Scotcher’s fertile design imaginings) is American aviator, Amelia Earhart.

“Where do you want to go?” she asks Jade (meaning in life, not just the museum); a tough question for an 11-year-old, worried about her parents’ upcoming divorce and fretting that no one ever listens to her.

With help from another outstanding American (cross-channel swimmer, Gertrude Ederle) and an upbeat song, Amelia sets about helping Jade believe in herself. Suddenly, Jade has big (and possibly slightly unrealistic) plans:

“I’ll do it all before I’m 12!”

Clearly, Jade has more to learn. Fortunately, there is no shortage of fantastically great women to help her work things out.

Next up, kitted out as a drum majorette, is local hero (and distant relative of the author) Emmeline Pankhurst. Emmeline tells Jade that, “well-behaved women rarely make history.” No doubt all the young women in the audience were taking note…

While these remarkable women emphasise action – “Deeds not words” – they repeatedly preach solidarity and cooperation:

“It’s not just about where you go, but about who you take along with you.”

There’s a fun number featuring fantastic Marys – Mary Seacole (nineteenth century Jamaican nurse), Mary Anning (youthful discoverer of dinosaur fossils), and “Mary,” well, Marie Curie (Polish/French physicist and chemist, double Nobel Prize winner).

While men are occasional ridiculed (usually for their outrageous beliefs about women’s limitations) it’s handled with a light touch. Credit is also given where it is due – for example, Pierre Curie’s refusal to accept a Nobel Prize unless his wife, Marie, was also granted one.

“Nobody changes the world alone.”

Historical accuracy is rightly paramount in “Fantastically Great Women,” so there is an acknowledgement that not all these women had a happy ending, while noting that the end of a life need not mean the end of a story. To bring this home, there’s a moving episode in which Jade sits between civil rights activist Rosa Parks and youthful diarist Anne Frank, victim of the Nazis.

We close with a suitably rousing finale, reminding us that, “there is no such thing as an ordinary woman” and that, “everyone here is fantastic!”

Most of the six-strong cast play multiple roles and revel in it. The staging (directed by Amy Hodge and choreographed by Dannielle ‘Rhimes’ Lecointe) is tireless, bright and witty. The songs (music by Miranda Cooper and Jennifer Decilveo, and lyrics by Chris Bush and Miranda Cooper) carry the young audience along enthusiastically.

Georgia Grant-Anderson makes a plausible and likeable eleven-year-old in the key role of Jade (we want her to change the world AND get a puppy). Jennifer Caldwell brings Emmeline Pankhurst home with rabble-rousing passion, and there is a show-stopping number from Elena Breschi as Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, which tears up the boards (and features a barnstorming drum-break, led by Nicola T. Chang).

As a rule, reviewers will shift heaven and earth to avoid falling into traps, cunningly laid by theatre promotions folk, but this time, there’s no avoiding it:

This is a fantastically great show!

Fantastically Great Women who Changed the World is at The Lowry, Salford from 5 December 2023 to 7 January 2024.

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The Drifters’ Girl refers to the late, Faye Treadwell who managed the group, first with her husband George, and single-handedly after she was widowed in 1967 until her death in 2011.

In many ways Faye, far from being a groupie Drifters’ girl, as she was often assumed to be, was the mastermind and grit behind the band’s longevity. This musical is both her story and the story of the band – neither of which could be told without the other.

The show opens in the crowd-pleasing way it means to go on, with individual voices of the cast each taking the spotlight before the band comes together for a Drifters’ medley of hits. It’s the kind of scene you might expect to see at the end of a show, but it throws the audience straight into the reason they’ve come here. Actors Miles Anthony Daley, Ashford Campbell, Tarik Frimpong and X-Factor winner Dalton Harris, all have sensational voices – we could be watching the next generation of The Drifters.

Faye narrates the story through conversations with her daughter, Tina (Jaydah Bell-Ricketts) who now manages the band. There are numerous recollections of concerts and studio sessions, giving plenty of opportunity to pack in tracks from the band’s extensive back-catalogue including Dance with Me, Under the Boardwalk and Saturday Night at the Movies. The staging is as slick as the band’s suits – with bright-lights and projections giving glamour and momentum to this fast-moving piece.

It is a demanding night for the cast all-round, with the male actors taking on numerous roles, reflecting the many characters Faye comes up against as well as the changing line-up of the band.

Faye likens her band’s revolving door of some 60 vocalists to the New York Yankees – players may come and go, but there is only one New York Yankees, so it is with her unique concept of The Drifters.

At the interval some audience members said they found the constant role changing confusing. If you try to keep all the names in your head, it will be. But if you focus on Faye and the music – what the show is ultimately about – this hopefully won’t be a problem.

On Wednesday we saw Loren Anderson in the lead role, covering for Cary Mercedes Dyer. Anderson gave her all in an energetic and powerful-voiced performance that sees Faye steam her way through racism, sexism, legal fights, personal sacrifice, and tragedy.

Life on the road certainly wasn’t as smooth as the band’s on-stage moves, and the musical touches on some hard-hitting issues. The short, fast-moving scenes give little time for emotional involvement; that essentially is left to the music. But this jukebox musical is still more than a collection of hits. It is a lesser-known story of one strong woman behind some timeless and well-known tunes that the audience can’t wait to get up and dance to. In this, the finale doesn’t disappoint.

The Drifters’ Girl is at The Opera House, Manchester from 10 to 14 October 2023 before continuing on tour.

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