Was not sure what to make of this as Flahsdance the movie came out in 1983 and all we remember about it is that iconic tune, the off the shoulder grey sweatshirt and a lot of hair.
We got all that and a lot more last night at Flashdance the Musical the Shaftesbury Theatre. The night began with a strange creature in a black shell suit and backwards baseball cap. Not very 80’s is it? Little did we know that there would be 2010 Streetdancing insterspereds into the 1980s dance routines.
The music was mostaly as we remembered it and the dancing was very energetic but the choreography was very aggressive. Did the directors only remember that this girl was from the rough side of town and could only do jerky, unladylike poses disguised as dance?
The female lead Alex was played by Victoria Hamilton-Barritt and the male lead Nick, is played by Matt Willis(Busted, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here). Matt’s Nick was not that much older than Alex whereas in the show there was a bit of an age gap and bit of cradle snatching to add to the relationship dynamic.
Each of the dancers of the Streetdance group had their own few minutes in between scenes and they did made some spectacular moves, a bit strange in the context but enjoyable all the same.
The 3 supporting female leads who played Alex’s best friends were great, good singing and dancing all round. There was a lot of under dressed women in quite a few of the scenes, which will surely gratify all the guys who are dragged along to watch this.
Again the stage setting was not too elaborate and they were very much following the trend of using a lot of video as backdrop to the musical.
All in all, it had a happy Hollywood ending and the cast did the big dancing number at the end leaving everyone on a high. Feel good and thoroughly entertaining.
The show is on until 26 February 2011. Book your tickets here.
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