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.
