Wow!! This old reviewer, a crotchety curmudgeon, entertained serious doubts that he would enjoy the spectacle of nubile (and scantily clad) young ladies cavorting about on stage in a lascivious manner while a top-notch rock band belted out a musical assault on the aural sensibilities of the fainthearted. Am I kidding? You betcha! The New Wimbledon Theatre was packed to capacity with an audience whose pleasure principle kept peaking. No wonder they gave the cast a standing ovation at the end.
Flashdance – The Musical is a reworking for the stage of a 1983 movie from Paramount Pictures, and is not the only movie of that decade to be adapted for the stage. The staging is here done superlatively well, and the music is really great, with some pounding heavy rock numbers. Against such a backdrop the songs and the dances come across with stunning effect. It helps that the two leads are a winner of Strictly Come Dancing and the vocalist with a chart-topping band respectively. But the other roles are played with equal panache, while the chorus line who provide the “on-stage swing” live up to their swinging soubriquet.
The story is corny, of course – the usual stuff about winning through against the odds. But you won’t be going to see this show for the plot. You’ll be going because you want your senses to be zonked. You’d better hurry, though. The show ends its short run at the New Wimbledon Theatre on Saturday.