I Should Be So Lucky – King’s Theatre, Glasgow and Touring

Lucie-Mae Sumner, Billy Roberts and company in I Should Be So Lucky at King’s Theatre, Glasgow and Touring. Picture: Marc Brenner

I Should Be So Lucky was reviewed at the King’s Theatre, Glasgow. The tour continues until 11 May 2024.

Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩

Sparking joy and laughter, this anthology of the unmistakable Stock, Aitken and Waterman archive is a light, frothy cocktail of a crowd-pleaser.

Far from avoiding comparison with the huge hit Mamma Mia!, the show celebrates the commonality of a wedding setting and even inter-generational plot lines. The hen party, ‘team bride’, consoles the jilted Ella (Lucie-Mae Sumner) and whisks her away to the planned honeymoon paradise in Turkey. Ella is also supported by the goddess herself, Kylie!

Kylie appears in mirrors, offering inspiration, advice and encouragement to Ella. These appearances are very entertaining vignettes, in keeping with the sparkly enthusiasm of the show.

Sumner is a fabulous Ella: great vocals, acting and dancing. Her ‘posse’ includes her mother, Shelley (Melissa Jacques), grandmother Ivy (Jemma Churchill) and sister Britney (on this occasion, Emma Crossley). The family dynamic works well with no comedic opportunity left unmined.

Along with the family at the honeymoon party, bridesmaid Bonnie (Kayla Carter) has a truly wonderful singing voice. Playing Michael, Scott Paige has a bit of a challenge – as the gay friend, the dialogue seems closer to the age of John Inman than the present day. He does very well with OTT flamboyance, though perhaps a more contemporary reading would elevate the character.

Meanwhile, the groom, Nathan (Billy Roberts) and best man, Ash (Giovanni Spano) find out that Ella is in Turkey and set off to find her.  This pair work well together, but occasionally deliver the dialogue so fast that words go missing. The north England accent does have a characteristic of speed but it needs pacing and articulation to land on the ear.

By the time the boys reach Turkey, Ella is being charmed by Nadeem (Matthew Croke) a ‘smooth operator’ who willingly stands in as her groom to impress an old school friend who also happens to be at the resort. There’s a brilliant comedy scene with Ella, Nathan and Nadeem showcasing great physical comedy and timing. Very well played.

The design is delightfully naive: a series of heart-shaped frames, each decorated with dozens of smaller hearts suggests a throwback to the times of the Stock Aitken Waterman heyday and how the Kylie and Jason fans saw the world.

The music is practically non-stop – more than 20 hits spanning the 1980s into the ’90s with the songwriting team’s trademark rhythms and bouncy lyrics. Debbie Isitt (the Nativity! series) has created an easy-going, fun show that had the audience on their feet dancing and singing along through the multi-wedding finale in unadulterated joy.

If this show was a hat, it would have ‘Kiss Me Quick’ written across the front of it. Nothing wrong with that at all – sheer entertainment.

Fiona Orr