This show will definitely make you ‘Shake Your Booty’.
Bursting with energy from start to finish, in true Sunshine Band style, the musical screams disco fever, with classic 70s tunes and dance moves. We the audience can’t help but groove to the music and sing along, encouraged by the effervescent chorus on stage. The show uses a meta-theatrical narrative device where Harry Casey consults his friend Dee on how best to create the musical re-telling of his story. They discuss which songs he should sing, which plot points to hit and tropes he should incorporate. This is a clever way of approaching a jukebox musical, which are often known for their flimsy plots.
The show bears all the hallmarks of a classic broadway musical condensed into Fringe form. With a chorus of vivacious dancers, Lisa Stevens’ choreography is perfection, combining classic disco moves with a whiff of musical theatre jazz to produce tight sequences. There are more quick-changes than you can count with technicolour costumes that light up the stage.
The highlights of the show are surely the upbeat group numbers such as ‘boogie man’ where the chorus are clad in camouflage and shoot water out of pink, glittery guns, or ‘Queen of Clubs’, showcasing all-silver costumes, including the male characters who don silver platform heels. The singing is pitch perfect and the performers’ vocal style is perfectly matched to the disco tunes.
Unfortunately, in the second half of the show there are one too many holes in the narrative that detract from the otherwise very polished production. Granted, it is difficult to create a Fringe-sized musical of this scale; however, time could be saved by cutting a couple of songs that do not drive the plot, or by spending less time setting up the narrative structure in the first half. This would allow the show to include important details on Casey’s rise to stardom that we currently miss: his first record deal, first number one hit, gathering band members etc. In addition, the show would gain a stronger structure with a greater sense of climax as opposed to the current (rather random) ending that fizzles out.
Overall, however, Who Do Ya Love? is a must-see for any musical theatre lover at Fringe. Sharp, sleek and camp, this show will definitely make you ‘Shake Your Booty’.
