Very broadly speaking, there are two sorts of theatrical shows. Those which wander round the houses before settling on the name that best encapsulates the energy of the entertainment on offer. The prime example being Hello Dolly! which was originally titled both Dolly, A Damned Exasperating Woman, and Call on Dolly, before producer David Merrick jumped on the coat tails of Louis Armstrong’s having a chart-busting hit, and decided to rename the show in response to it.
Then there’s the second category. Where the title comes first, and the show is written around it. I think I can state without fear of contradiction that Frankie Goes to Bollywood, the ‘Billion Colour Musical’ that has been touring and has just rocked up at the QEH falls into this latter category.
The show tells the story of Frankie (Laila Zaidi), from Milton Keynes who is stuck in a dead-end job as a cinema usher. She misses her late mother who was a fan of all things Bollywood, but gets by with the help of her best friend, the wise-cracking Goldy (Katie Stasi). Due to a chance meeting with a film director, Prem (Navin Kundra), she manages to push her friend Goldy to audition for his forthcoming movie. Goldy doesn’t get the part, but Frankie is ‘spotted’ and taken out to India for a screen test where she starts to get chewed up and spat out by the Bollywood system which seems, here at least, to be a cross between the Royal Family and the Mafia.
A series of events ensue, and she has to fend off the unwelcome attentions of her male co-stars – and their mothers – the press eager for any celebrity gossip, and a society quite unlike the one she’s left in Milton Keynes.
So, what did I think? Well, to be honest it was far in a way better than I had anticipated. I’ve got a couple of caveats, but on the whole I had a very enjoyable evening.
The cast of sixteen sound and move excellently, doubling parts where necessary. Laina Zaidi makes a very likeable Frankie, and Katie Stasi as her best friend is a hoot. Navin Kundra is suitable leading-man material as Prem, and Geet Sagar as the antagonist, the slimy Raju King, is by turns unbearably bad, and very funny.
Overall Pravesh Kumar’s’s direction is slick, and Nicola Mac’s energetic choreography keeps everything flowing along very entertainingly. Oh, and a shout out to Philip Gladwell for his lighting design which managed brilliantly to convey the glitz and glamour of the Indian dream factory.
Niraj Chag and Tasha Taylor Johnson’s score is accessible in an ‘S Club 7’ sort of a way, though the songs are very much ‘of the moment’ and little stayed with me as I lefty the theatre.
So, the caveats… Talking to Bollywood fans in the audience, it seems the world as portrayed here is Bollywood as it was twenty five years ago, and the show reflects that, with a pushy and slightly duplicitous gay costume designer, and the character of Goldy, the frumpy, wisecracking best friend there to be a foil for the leading lady.
Overall though an enjoyable evening, even if the plot does rather lose it’s focus in the second act.
The show has been touring, and I rather wish I’d have seen it at Watford Palace Theatre instead of the cavernous and soulless Queen Elizabeth Hall. I suspect it came across better in a more intimate venue, though with a third more seats to sell down on the South Bank, it may well be that this is where the money is to be made. I wish them well.
Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank
Book: Pravesh Kumar
Music, & Lyrics: Niraj Chag and Tasha Taylor Johnson
Director: Pravesh Kumar
Cast includes: Laila Zaida, Helen K Wint, Navin Kundra, Katie Stasi, Gigi Zahir, Geet Sagar, Tamara Verhoven Clyde, Nikita Johal, Hari Chandresh, Dhruv Ravi, and full supporting cast.
Until: 18 August 2024
Running time: 2hrs 20 including 1 x 15 minute interval