This is a terrific new musical, directed by Bob Tomson (Dreamboats & Petticoats and Blood Brothers).
Set in 1960s London, featuring the famous Marquee Club and the trendsetting Carnaby Street fashion shops, this is a pacy, energetic production, packed with period pop songs which support and drive the storyline.
A young couple, Jude and Penny (Hey and Lane – get it?) hitchhike from Liverpool to London in search of fame and fortune in the pop music biz. But will they find it?
With a strong, live, four-piece band, augmented by three excellent girl singers who also dance and play the brass section, the colourful story rocks along.
The ‘60s fashion costumes are spoton, musical sounds are period authentic, choreography is neat, and the youthful attitude “Sex is great but love is a bit of a bore” shows that “the times they are a-changing”.
Among a very talented cast, Mark Pearce is outstanding with gritty vocals on Mustang Sally, Born To Be Wild, and the genuinely moving Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood.
As the flamboyant and salacious record label owner Arnold Lane, Hugo Harold-Harrison is completely convincing.
The action moves to New York with I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself reinforcing the growing melancholic tone and when a band member dies, his funeral is stylishly conveyed with the multi-harmony Three Steps To Heaven and the aching Sealed With A Kiss.
What a groovy show!
Carnaby Street runs at Bournemouth Pavilion until Saturday and is at The Mayflower from September 17 to 21.
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