If you are looking for an exuberant celebration of the music and life of the swinging sixties then Shout! The Mod Musical is the production to see.
This high-energy show performed by former graduates from LIPA (Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts) is a delight.
Okay, the plot is wafer thin but when you have a talented cast of five and performing the song hits of the era from iconic stars such as Cilla Black, Petula Clark, Nancy Sinatra and Shirley Bassey then how can you fail to enjoy this trip down memory lane and their singing is spot on.
The premise is that the girls ask for advice from Shout magazine’s agony aunt, the prim and proper Gwendolyn Holmes (Katie Tyler), to help them with issues ranging from boyfriend relationships to sex parties and orgies reflecting the sexual revolution with the introduction of the pill as well as the use of marijuana and other drugs.
Michael Starke provides the voice of the magazine that moves the action on through the decade.
The cast each represent a colour that reflects their personality from Orange (Emily Chesterton) as the contented married one to Blue (Hayley Hampson) with poise and beauty but with no friends. Red (Sarah Folwell) has a big surprise with Yellow (Evangeline Pickerill) driven by her emotions and Green (Miriam O’Brian) “well she’s a bit of a slut.”
There is some slick choreography and direction from Andrew McKay with some clever lighting by Adam Murdoch.
The impressive band under the direction of Callum Clarke is superb.
This is a highly entertaining feel-good musical that left the audience enthusiastically joining in with the final song “Shout” and the cast thoroughly deserved their standing ovation.