Fat Friends The Musical, New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham - review with pictures
An all-singing, all-dancing Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff was always going to grab the headlines and the limelight when signed up for Fat Friends The Musical.
And, given the huge cheers he got when he graced the stage, is certainly getting bums on seats. It was a packed auditorium, with a large female contingent, that greeted the former cricketer.
But it would be wrong to focus just on Flintoff – who can actually act for those of you who were wondering although he was playing a nice-but-dim northern ‘lummox’.
Fat Friends is a great night out with a bellyful of laughs, some wonderful characters – as you would expect from Kay Mellor – and an incredibly talented cast.
Mellor has adapted her hugely successful TV drama for the stage with the musical score composed by Nicholas Lloyd Webber.
Taking the lead role is Jodie Prenger as bold, beautiful and larger than life Kelly, soon to be married to fiancé Kevin, played by Flintoff.
Set in Leeds, their simple but happy lives are thrown into disarray when Kelly is challenged by ruthless Super Slimmer boss Julia Fleshman (played by Atomic Kitten singer Natasha Hamilton) to slim down into the wedding dress of her dreams and have her big day paid for.
Anyone who has ever been to a weight loss class will relate to this show – from the walk of shame to the scales to the ‘motivational’ catchphrases. ‘Nothing tastes as good as slim feels’; ‘a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips’. There were many wry smiles, timely laughs and a nodding of the head from members of the audience during the slimming class scenes.
Prenger is fantastic in the role of Kelly putting in an energetic and moving performance and bringing laughs by the bucketload, Her voice is unrivalled with breathtaking performances in such songs as Stuck on You and Beautiful.
She interacts well with Flintoff who is not the strongest singer on the stage but puts in a decent performance and is convincing in the role of Kevin though it is in the comedy side where he truly excels.
In support there are strong performances from X Factor star Sam Bailey who plays Kelly’s mum Betty and Kevin Kennedy as her chip shop owning dad Fergus. There is a touching moment when Kelly and her parents perform the emotional If You Don’t want to Marry Him.
A particular highlight was the powerful duet Mr Someone which sees nervy class leader Lauren, played by Emmerdale’s Natalie Anderson, unknowingly revealing her emotional turmoil to foxy vicar Paul, played by Jonathan Halliwell.
Hamilton is also very entertaining as super bitchy Fleshman while Neil Hurst adds to the comedy as struggling slimmer Alan.
The musical is, perhaps necessarily, less gritty than the TV drama and than Mellor’s other work. The storyline wasn’t too challenging and the ending not unexpected.
But it is most definitely funnier. Cheeky numbers such as Corset Song, Diets are Crap and Chocolate had the audience in stitches.
It is the perfect feelgood show for a night out with your girlfriends, for anyone who has ever tried to lose weight or those who just need to learn to love their lumps and bumps.
Runs at the theatre until Saturday.
