"The Drifters Girl"

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

Here's a jukebox musical that I've not seen before, but being a big fan of the music of The Drifters, could not wait to see.

The story is about Faye Treadwell, the Drifters Girl who managed the band and never gave up on her belief that they would be big; the band she loved. The book is by Ed Curtis and based on an idea by Tina Treadwell, the daughter of George and Faye Treadwell. Tina has launched the careers of stars like Britney Spears, Nsync and Justin Timberlake.

Jukebox musicals can be a thin story with an excuse to cram in as many songs from one artist or musical genre. Not so with this because I actually learnt a few things about The Drifters, and I thought I knew a lot about them.

The music is, as expected brilliant. I grew up in the seventies with the Drifters as my soundtrack. One of the first albums I bought was a Music For Pleasure compilation of The Drifters; you know the sort, a few hits with the rest of the album being little known album tracks or American minor hits that didn't make it over in the UK. Later that decade I bought, second hand, "The Drifters 24 Greatest Hits", double album; the one with the animated scene of a pool table and cue which showed cartoon scenes depicting some of the tracks within the album sleeves. I loved that album and played it until the grooves wore out, so I can say that I am a big, BIG fan of their music.

The story in "The Drifters Girl" takes you from the very early days and how Faye was introduced to Clyde McPhatter by George Treadwell, who was married at the time, but had fallen for Faye because of her forthright attitude and love for the music.

We see the rise to fame, the many line up changes, a bit about why the various members were swapped, the hits, the sexist attitudes that Faye had to endure - after all she was not backwards at coming forward where the band was concerned, but she was a powerful woman in a male industry. We also see the racism the band endured when trying to book a black band into hotels in the UK. No Dogs, No Irish, No Blacks. We also see an incite into the court case brought by the greedy Lover Paterson. But most of all we see the determination of Faye Treadwell, The Drifters Girl.

There's a lot of comedy in this musical, especially as the four actors who play all of the members of The Drifters, play every male role. As The Drifters tour up and down the UK, we get an array of accents, accentuated for comic effect. Roger and Roger are depicted as the archetypal British, stiff upper lipped, hooray Henry pair. And for anyone who don't click as to who Roger and Roger are, they are Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway who wrote most of The Drifters' hits in the 1970's while they were on Bell record label.

It's not all fun and laughter though because we also witness Faye finding out about the death of her husband, George Treadwell, from one of the members of the group.

So that I don't have to repeat myself too much, let me say that the voices from everyone are phenomenal. With the four male leads, if they ever make a musical about Boyz To Men, these four must be in the running as their voices together, and separately are like having melted salted caramel chocolate poured down your throat; heavenly.

Carly Mercedes Dyer plays Faye Treadwell. This woman has an absolute wonder of a voice, some may describe it as the voice of a diva, and that may be right because in my eyes, a diva is someone who knows their worth and has the confidence to deliver what's on the tin label. This Carly Mercedes-Dyer tin though had no label on for me, and so the contents came as a gorgeous surprise. The power in her voice, and the emotion could give Mariah Carey a run for her money. A voice that gave me tingles, especially with the song "I Don't Want To Go On Without You".

Miles Anthony Daley (George Treadwell), Ashford Campbell (Ben E King, Rudy Lewis), Daniel Haswell (Johnny Moore) and Tarik Frimpong (Clyde McPhatter, Lover Patterson) play these main characters and every male role throughout. They deliver comedy, pathos, amazing soulful vocals, exciting choreography and an array of accents. This quartet really earn their money.

Jaydah Bell-Ricketts plays Girl. Girl starts off playing the jukebox which brings the music of The Drifters onto the stage. Girl also plays Faye and George's daughter, who must be Tina Treadwell, but is not named as such. Jaydah also has a great voice.

Directed by Jonathan Church, this show could not be more pacy if you pressed the fast forward button, but then again, there's a lot to cram into two hours of music history.

Karen Bruce's choreography bring back those wonderful early boy band synchronised dance moves, even before the label "boy band" was created I imagine. The late 1950's/1960's energetic choreography is there as well, especially with the early Clyde McPhatter performances. Happy memories of watching "Top Of The Pops" in the 70's and "Soul Train" performances shown on MTV came flooding back with the choreography.

Dustin Conrad is the MD, heading up the seven piece band, which sounds more like an orchestra. One thing that I enjoy with Jukebox musicals is the opportunity for the arranger to deconstruct and reimagine certain songs. The stripped back version of "Stand By Me" is beautiful, along with some gorgeous soulful R 'n' B versions of some classic Drifters songs.

Talking of which, there are twenty five songs showcased in this show. From early songs like "Money Honey", "Fools Fall In Love", "This Magic Moment", "Dance With Me" and "When My Little Girl Is Smiling" to the later classics like "Come On Over To My Place", "Hello Happiness", "Kissin' In The Back Row", "Saturday Night At The Movies" and my personal favourite, "You're More Than A Number In My Little Red Book".

Anthony Ward's set design is colourful, and very 1970s. Andrzej Goulding's Video design brings extra context to the stage set and adds to the slightly psychedelic and kaleidoscopic effects.

Fay Fullerton designed the costumes. Love the brightly coloured combination suits for the lads, which looked to have been also easy to switch, because there are some pretty quick off-stage jacket changes. Once more, the costumes bring back images of Top Of The Pops performances for me, which I loved.

Fay's designs for Faye Treadwell's outfits are full of class and style, giving that early power dressing image some bling and sparkle.

Sound design by Tom Marshall was powerful, chunky and clear, and I noticed at least one mic cue miss, showing that touring professional shows can also miss the odd cue. I really don't think anyone clocked it, but as I highlight these things in local theatre productions, I felt the need to just drop it in there.

Lighting design by Ben Cracknell. There's a certain look and feel to the lighting design for the 1970's, and also for the 60's era as well, and these were well replicated for this production. Lovely big bright blocks of light complimented the colourful costumes marvellously.

I love the music in this show, and is one of those musicals that I'd see over and over again. Not just for the music though, but for the story, the vocals and the entertainment value.

"The Drifters Girl" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 24 February.