Flashdance the Musical - Manchester

Reviewed By: Kate Stirrup

I was at the press night for Flashdance the Musical at the Palace Theatre last night.

It felt soooo good to be back at the theatre, after a summer largely devoid of musicals (apart from an am dram production of Godspell my brother was in!).

The show is a stage adaptation of the 1983 film about steel worker-by-day, exotic dancer-by-night, Alex, who dreams of winning a place at a prestigious dance school.

It features hit songs from the movie like Gloria, Maniac, Manhunt and the title track Flashdance (What a Feeling) alongside original numbers written for the show.

These include the catchy opening number Steeltown Sky - it's so exciting when a musical has a show-stopping opening (think The Heat is on in Saigon in Miss Saigon, or the overture from Phantom). Getting goosebumps at the start of a musical is always a good sign.

Victoria Hamilton-Barritt was fantastic as Alex, she's gorgeous, with a belting voice and was a superb dancer.

Former Corrie actor Bruno Langley was great as hoodie-wearing bad boy Jimmy and sang very well, in this, his first musical role. The way he played Jimmy - all jittery bravado - really brought life to what could have been a slightly two-dimensional character.

Bernie Nolan showed her usual class and strong voice with her role as Alex's mum, Hannah.

But the revelation for me was former Hear'say singer Noel Sullivan, who seemed a total natural for musicals.

With a wonderful voice, easy charm and heartfelt acting, he was fantastic, and I'd be really interested in seeing him perform a classic dramatic musical theatre role, like Chris in Miss Saigon, or Marius in Les Mis.

Punchy choreography by TV favourite Arlene Phillips, snappy scene changes, stunning lighting and evocative sets (panels of rusting steel in Alex's blue collar world contrasted nicely with the stained glass elegance of the dance school she dreams of joining) all combined to make this a first class production.

And it was great to see all the little touches from the movie (which I confess I have never seen - the dvd is on the shopping list now however) that have passed into pop culture history were there; from Alex's slash-neck sweatshirt to the famous chair dance with added water,

Highly recommended.

© One Blog More, 9/9/08

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