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New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Fiona Mountford's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Keith Strachan, Bob Tomson.
Cast: David Cardy, Daisy Wood-Davis, Jennifer Biddall, Scott Bruton, A.J. Dean, Mike Lloyd, Emma Hatton, Ben Freeman
Description: Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran's 1960s-set musical, featuring songs by Roy Orbison and Chuck Berry, inspired by the album of the same name.
Trains: Tube/BR: Charing Cross/Embankment 
Phone: 0870164 8787
Website: www.ambassadortickets.com/Savoy-Theatre/Information
Jukebox jivers: Ben Freeman as smooth-talker Norman, Scott Bruton as Bobby and AJ Dean as Ray
There is, I’ve decided, one exception to the truism that nostalgia isn’t what it used to be, and this occurs in the case of Sixties jukebox musicals. Each time one of these resolutely generic beasts arrives in a theatre, it’s greeted with the sort of audience enthusiasm only witnessed by the last piece offering Let’s Twist Again and Bobby’s Girl. A rare exception to the rule was the Su Pollard shocker Shout!, which came a cropper earlier this year, but on the whole our affection for anything set during the heydays of Harolds Macmillan and Wilson remains undimmed.
Thus it has proved with Dreamboats and Petticoats, which, in an oh-so-21st century twist, was inspired by the hit compilation albums of the same name. Certainly no one could accuse Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran’s book of anything like originality or depth but nonetheless the show has charm, energy and the innocence of a bygone time, which just about keeps us tapping our toes until we learn who’s won the 1961 songwriting contest organised by the National Association of Youth Clubs.
This hokey-sounding premise — as far as I could work out, the winners don’t actually finish their prize entry in time — is, of course, merely a hook for a series of teenage tribulations at the St Mungo’s Youth Club. Earnest Laura loves gauche Bobby, who is in turn hung up on slinky Sue, the flirt who thinks smooth-talking Norman might be the one. It’s all benign bunkum — why must they be teenagers in love? — which too many bland, over-miked voices take us through in a slew of tunes.
The real bright spot of Bob Tomson’s peppy production is newcomer Daisy Wood-Davis, who provides Laura with a lovely voice and something resembling a character. Her swotty glasses come off in the second half, as I’d rather suspected they might, although I lost the bet with myself on the teen pregnancy subplot.
D and P isn’t that sort of show. That’s the good thing about nostalgia: you can edit out the distasteful bits.
Booking to 12 September. Information: 0844 871 7615.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
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You don't have to have lived in the sixties to enjoy this show, just check out the young cast they looked like they were having a great time. When the first beat of a song began playing the audience were on cue singing along. Nostalgia you can't beat it. I rate this show as one of the best I have seen.
- Sheila, Swindon
