Dreamboats and Petticoats – Sheffield and Touring

A scene from Dreamboats and Petticoats at the Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield and touring

Dreamboats and Petticoats was reviewed at the Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield and continues touring until 24 May, 2014.

Nostalgia shows these days often plump for a back catalogue inspired by the 1970s and 80s, so it’s nice to find shows that bring a fond recall of the 1950s and 60s, when rock‘n’roll set the young frolicking. The Cliff and Elvis days, when Bobby Darin, Del Shannon and Roy Orbison were names to be conjured with.

First staged in 2009, this is an evening of modest, healthy entertainment: not an A-star musical, but one enacted well enough by a pleasant young cast, who sing uniformly well, and whose instrumental finesse gives special pleasure (bassist David Jay Douglas, Chloe Edwards-Wood on tenor sax, lead guitar Robert Dalton, etc.).

I hand it to these performers – they can act, play instruments, sing and, periodically, dance. The leads are all good. Matthew Colthart (the brusque Norman) scores a hit every time he sings; so do Laura Sillett’s commonsense Donna and Louise Olley’s curvaceous Sue (who sadly gets too few numbers). Her ‘You Don’t Know’ (Helen Shapiro) and ‘Do Doo Ron Ron’ (The Crystals) are a cut above the rest.

The staging and choreography turn out to be a little uninspired (although the choreography picks up when it mimics the era), so really any flair comes from the young actors themselves. The speaking is exemplary. They all play teens well. Greg Fossard’s wannabe Bobby, Hannah Boyce’s longsuffering, National Health-bespectacled little sister Laura, Will Finlason as self-admiring but concerned, incipiently decent teen brother Ray (‘Tell Laura I Love Her’ – sensational; the iconic Eddie Cochran’s ‘C’mon Everybody’ – electrifying), all have great moments. Indeed Fossard’s Bobby wins us from his very first number, ‘Let’s Dance’. ‘Runaround Sue’ and ‘Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen’, with the ensemble, are also a pure joy.

Fitting songs around this tale of jilted teenage woe is clever, but the writing is often thin. When the script serves up witty one-liners, they are very funny, and the story lifts. TV’s Roger Martin plods amiably as the sugardaddy, Phil, but sings heroically (‘Little Town Flirt’, in duet with Finlason, is hypnotically good; ‘Dream Lover’, as old Bobby with his younger self, terrific. ‘Hey Baby!’ at the end raises the roof).

It’s no surprise the sideshows come off best: a hilarious spoof from Victoria Quigley and Chloe Edwards-Wood as the talent show-chasing ‘Carnegie Sisters’, and Mike Lloyd as both Frank the caretaker and a show compere who provides a masterclass in what pastiche comic acting (or show-stealing) is all about.

Roderic Dunnett

www.dreamboatsandpetticoats.com