If, like me, you went to see the rather marvelous touring version of the musical 9 to 5 then you will know that it is a jolly good romp :) Naturally it brings the classic 1980 movie to life with added music & dance routines for extra sparkle and glitz. There's a healthy dollop of humour, a touching new romantic storyline, heebie-geebie giving henchmen (Andrew Waldron is a standout in an ensemble of standout performances in this group), brilliant energy from the female leads (Jackie Clune, Natalie Casey, Amy Lennox and Bonnie Langford), uniformly amazing performances from everyone and a lot of eye candy for the ladeez and fella loving fellas out there (well hello there Peter McPherson!) And of course, one has to mention the genius of Ben Richards. He manages to smooth and smarmy all at the same time, exuding an arrogant charm and subjecting himself to all manner of situations (mostly involving either being semi naked, or tied & gagged, or trying to talk while gagged or being semi naked while tied & gagged!) - yet is the love-to-hate glue that holds the entire show together. Throw in a cameo from Dolly herself (of sorts) and yup, as I said it's a jolly good romp. A rip roaring time. A hoot and a half. You can still book tickets for the remaining shows (prior to it's west end debut) here - but if you need anymore convincing (and surely you don't, but check this out anyway), do have a little looksie at the video above. The cast have got together to create a visual extravaganza eleganza to Will.I.Am's Bang Bang. It's bloody marvelous and here are my ten favourite moments from the clip...
- 01 ~ MagicIan! I love when mystical powers are imbued on the possibly blind/cool cat musical empressario and the instruments are controlled by his mere hand movements! I bet even Hermione Granger can't pull this one off :)
- 02 ~ Dance routine! Who doesn't love a good dance routine, especially when performed by sickeningly attractive people who incorporate literal interpretation of the lyrics into their hand movements! It's something everyone can join in with (perhaps not Captain Hook, but still)...
- 03 ~ Show Clips! Oh so good to see glimpses from the stage show, particularly the section where all the dudes are in the glittering pink fuscia jackets. It's like a little bit of Priscilla Queen of the Desert right in the 9 to 5 mix :) Brava!
- 04 ~ Flapper! Amazing flapper dancing at around 45s (is it Natalie Casey?) I can do the wonky knees thing, but when I tried the spinny back turned leg malarky, my shoe went flying. I kind of regret doing it in the office now.
- 05 ~ Booze! Now that's more like it. It's far easier just to shimmy along to the song and then take a slug of alcohol in time with the music. Personally my hip flask would be filled with Pimms because I'm classy like that :)
- 06 ~ Hairdryer realness! Who didn't pretend to use a hairdryer as a gun when they were younger? I perpetrated a whole Toy-Story esque robbery with Risa Lolitta (cabbage patch doll) holding up the My Little Pony bank with my mum's massive diffuser. Hardcore me...
- 07 ~ Ben Richards! Hurrah! At 1m14 there is a pleasingly topless shot of Mr Richards (he certainly keeps a fine figure does he not?) looking like a renegade cop from a 70s tv show. I may have paused on this clip for slightly too long...
- 08 ~ Tie straightening! One must keep one's tie fairly neat and tidy. Andrew and Mark look the business all suited and booted :)
- 08 ~ Peter! While this top ten best bits wasn't intended to highlight all the good looking dudes within the show, it seems to just be turning out that way. There's Peter at the side of the stage giving it some jazz hands action :) Check out his website by the way - there are some lovely shots there! PS, all the ladies in the show are stunning too :D
- 09 ~ Strictly! Heavens to Betsy! There's some amazing strictly come dancing style stuff going on at around 1m45s. I feel quite inadequate. I can barely lift a can of coke above my head :P
- 10 ~ Wiz! And it all ends with a sort of "we're off to see the wizard" style mince off :) Amaze.
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