Review: SHOUT! THE MOD MUSICAL, Theatre Royal Windsor
Some songs define an era and Lulu’s 1964 top ten hit ‘Shout!’, her first release, was certainly one of those and the title has been borrowed for this jukebox musical, written by Phillip George and David Löwenstein in 2009, based around those songs from the 60s. After a run in London at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, the show - directed by Joseph Hodges and choreographed by Jay Gardner - arrived at Theatre Royal Windsor for the week.
The musical Shout! is a celebration of a decade that changed society with women’s liberation, the pill, free love, marijuana, and new fashions, and is defined by the music of the period from the Beatles to a host of wonderful female singers including Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black, Shirley Bassey, Nancy Sinatra, Mary Hopkins and Petula Clark.
The three-piece band led by Gabrielle Ball on keys I, with Amy Gray on drums and Ella Ingram on keys II, provide a strong backing to the five female singers that recreate that iconic 60s sound.
The musical uses the conceit of letters written by five women of different ages to a 60s women’s magazine “Shout” to frame the show, with the old-fashioned responses from its agony aunt providing poor advice and signally the world was changing. At times, it has the feel of the anarchic Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In TV show (1968-1973) with its sketches and dancing go-go girls interrupted to deliver short gags.
The original setup of the show, which covers a period from February 1964 to the early 1970’s, was a range of women of different ages reading the magazine. In this production, the ladies all appear of a similar age and are distinguished from each other by the colours and fashion of an array of different period style costumes. We are introduced to them as the Orange Girl (later Purple girl), played by Lauren Bimson and described as “domestic material with kids”; the Blue Girl, played by Madeleine Doody and described as having “poise and beauty but no friends”; the Yellow Girl, played by Gabrielle Cummins, described as “driven by her emotions and American”; the Red girl, played by Isabella Mason, described as “youthful and naïve”; and the Green girl, played by Lauren Allan, described simply as “a slut”. They dance and sing with energy and a sense of fun but barely develop individual characters.
There is limited linking narrative to the songs with the voiceover of Agony Aunt Gwendolyn Holmes (Pippa Winslow) setting up cringeworthy gags which might have worked better if we could have seen her on stage. The standard of comedy is epitomised by the gag, “What have Australia and the mini-skirt got in common?” The answer: “You can see down under.” Or the advice that a woman should “have no higher aspiration than to be married.” It captures the period and shows how the world has changed but we wanted more of a linking story or a male character for them to interact with.
The staging too is bright and colourful but the two upstage steps which are frequently used create sight line issues at the Theatre Royal where those on end of rows in Royal Stalls cannot see the singers, while the centre stage in front of the band is left empty. Strong coloured lights also shine out from behind the band into the audience’s eyes.
Yet this is show primarily about the music and a number of songs stand out as reminders of the vibrant sound of the 60s. In particular, the seductive joy of The Bond theme and ‘Goldfinger’ (1964), the energy of ‘These Boots Were Made For Walking’ (1968), and the nostalgia of ‘Those Were The Days’ (1969) are highlights. Then a wonderful finale with ‘Shout!’ (1964) and ‘Downtown’ (1964) providing an upbeat and exciting celebratory conclusion. The Theatre Royal audience were satisfied and sang and danced along at the end to this 60s mixtape. If you are a child of the 60s, it may bring back groovy memories of an optimistic swinging time and perhaps that is enough.
** Two stars
Reviewed by: Nick Wayne
SHOUT! The Mod Musical plays at Theatre Royal Windsor until 2 August, with further info here.