Wednesday, March 28

Fat Friends, the Musical – Theatre Royal Nottingham

So here is the plot … in a nutshell.

The upcoming wedding of a Slimmer of the Year candidate’s daughter, whose dress is too small – leads to a weight loss challenge… with the bill for the wedding at stake! 

Like all good comedies, there’s plenty to poke fun at. But what sets this aside is that far from contrived, like most of author Kay Mellor’s work this story borrowed heavily (pardon the pun) from true life, so the jokes really hit home with the audience.

So if you’ve ever been to a slimming group (or one of your family has…) there’s so much in this show to resonate with the day-to-day world we all live in. 

And as for the music! With a real band playing live, and some superb singing voices among the cast, it’s a hilarious romp that can’t fail.

Freddie Flintoff plays the gentle giant role (until Thursday); he’s bit of a buffoon in this show – and was a revelation! Best know for his Ashes winning bowling in the 2005 cricket contest, he’s branched out since with a series of wide-ranging challenges. 

Natalie Anderson (ex-Emmerdale) also revealed her superb singing voice, alongside I’d Do Anything winner Jodie Prenger as the soon-to-be wed daughter and X-Factor winner Sam Bailey as her mum. Atomic Kitten star Natasha Hamilton completed the trio to set the weight-loss challenge.

When you consider that Sam and Freddie aren’t actors, the polished, funny, and tuneful performance shows how a well-drilled tightly rehearsed group can pull out the stops for a tip-top performance. 

Kevin Kennedy, from Coronation Street, didn’t have the part you might expect for such a big star of the small screen, but together the cast gel perfectly to take you on an emotional rollercoaster.

It really worked as a musical, with some fabulous songs, audience-appropriate language – and at two hours and 20 minutes, it didn’t seem a long show at all. 

The cleverly-written songs were funny, got the point across and left everyone chattering as they left with a smile on their face as they headed into the night.