Now That’s What I Call A Musical
Milton Keynes Theatre
12th November 2024

Incredibly, this week sees the release of “Now That’s What I Call Music, Volume 119”, and while the compilation album series may be long past its heyday, it still holds a huge amount of nostalgia for a lot of people. In the age of streaming and playlists, the concept seems alien now, but for over 4 decades the physical releases of the “Now” series gave us all the latest chart-topping hits, along with helping us find new artists. In celebration of the series’ achievements, new jukebox show “Now That’s What I Call A Musical” has arrived on our stages, playing this week at Milton Keynes theatre. The show encourages audiences to relive their youth with a string of 80s megahits, and a story of a teen friendship trying to survive into adulthood.

Set in Birmingham in 1989, best friends Gemma (played by Nikita Johal) and April (Maia Hawkins) vow to be friends forever, and set about planning their lives; April has her sights set on being a Hollywood film star, while Gemma foresees a future in nursing with a husband and children, with brother Frank (Luke Latchman) and her parents (Poppy Tierney, Christopher Glover) close at hand. When the 40th school reunion rolls around in 2009, Gemma (played as an adult by Nina Wadia) and Frank (Shakil Hussain) take stock of their lives and evaluate how happy they really are, with Frank single and Gemma married to the odious Tim (Chris Grahamson). Flashbacks show how their lives have led to this point, and reveal why it’s taken April (Melissa Jacques) over a decade to get back in touch.

Fans of the ‘Mamma Mia’ and ‘I Should Be So Lucky’ stage musicals will find more to enjoy here, with ‘Now That’s What I Call A Musical’ being another retread of this familiar style. Two dimensional characters traverse a thin plot stretched beyond its means and loosely held together by well-known songs which don’t really fit what’s going on, but most of the audience probably won’t mind too much because they’ll have a good time anyway. The ‘Ronseal’ approach that so many new jukebox musicals take, it does what it says on the tin, offering nothing in the way of surprises or real artistic merit, but makes toes tap and puts smiles on faces, which is probably all that particular audience are looking for. It must be said that while its first act certainly follows this framework, the second act at least tries to flesh out its story, with Pippa Evans’ book attempting to dig a little deeper than many of other shows of its kind, and hints at what the show could’ve been if it focused more on that and less on trying to shoehorn in the next song.

As a production, the show is satisfactory rather than staggering, with an adequate set (Tom Rogers and Toots Butcher) and predictable direction (Craig Revel Horwood) offering little outside of the expected. None of it is terrible, but the way the show presents itself is exactly the way every other show of this type presents itself, meaning nothing stands out or stays in the memory once the songs finish. The songs have lasted 40 years; the show certainly won’t.

Performances are fine for the most part, although setting the show in Birmingham brings a challenge of believable accents, which a significant number of the cast fail to deliver. Still, there’s a lot to enjoy; Nina Wadia and Melissa Jacques make a great pair of leads, as do Maia Hawkins and Nikita Johal as their younger counterparts, with Hawkins in particularly strong voice. The men are less well-served, but Shakil Hussain manages to bring a great likeability to Frank, and Callum Tempest’s “Every Breath You Take” sounds great. The show also contains an 80s icon (varying by venue), appearing as a spirit guide to Gemma and offering pearls of wisdom; Milton Keynes are being treated to Sonia, who gives a rendition of her Eurovision hit “Better The Devil You Know”. She may not quite be able to hit those top notes any more, but it’s a nice moment.

While it’s definitely more “fun” than “good”, ‘Now That’s What I Call A Musical’ provides a thought-free enjoyably silly night out for audiences who just need a good time with some songs they already know they love. It’s not as strong a musical as its bold title claims, but the strength of its 80s tunes make it worth leaving the house for.

‘Now That’s What I Call A Musical’ runs at Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday 16th November 2024 before continuing on its UK tour.

Performance runtime 2 hours 45 minutes.

Cast notes –

Guest stars – Sonia, Sinitta, Carol Decker, Toyah Willcox, Jay Osmond. Appearances vary by venue, check local listings for details.

Melissa Jacques is scheduled to play April at all venues from 6 September – 7 December 2024. Sam Bailey is scheduled to take over as April at all venues from 14 January – 12 April 2025