Tuesday 22 December 2009

Christmas Wishes



Well another year has passed and this year seems to have had many successes for Fran and things look set to continue as She will be backing Darren Hayes at His intimate New Years Eve gig in Vauxhall this year, then A Little Night Music in Paris in February. Lets hope that 2010 will be as successful throughout the year as the beginning promises to be.

Please be sure to leave your Christmas Messages to Fran here.

And let me also thank all of you for supporting this site and your continued support for Fran as she continues to amaze us with her talent.

Merry Christmas and A Happy 2010 to you All.

Friday 4 December 2009

The Sheffield Star Review

REVIEW: Dreamboats and Petticoats, The LyceumPremium Article
Published Date: 02 December 2009

This musical, named after the best selling album, could easily have been trite and contrived; a loose story of 60's youngsters, complete with teenage angst, falling in and out of love and entering a song writing competition, the whole show linked by all the songs from the 60's you remember.
But from the opening number of Let's Dance (Chris Montez had the orginal hit ) the show rocks. Each member of the young cast exudes talent and committment as they sing and dance their way, with superb timing, through songs that their parents sang and everyone can sing along too.

Forty years on and countless replays later, most know the words to most of the songs, a tribute no doubt to the art of telling a story in under three minutes.

If you can remember the E type Jag unveiled and Danny Blanchflower refusing to appear on This is Your Life; Rod Laver winning Wimbledon and the contraceptive pill going on sale that's the era in which Bobby competes with Norman for the affection of sweet Sue, growing up in the 60's, all set to over 40 timeless songs.

Bobby, played by Josh Capper, is ideally cast at the geeky teenager, growing into a man. Song writing schoogirl Laura (Lauren Hood) perfectly cast as a sweet innocent and Norman (Jonathan Bremner) as the cocky, know it all, Jack the Lad, older than his years who produces a performance of comedy and pathos, epitomising the ego maniacal character with charm and Elvis-like curling lip and hip swivelling gyrations.

The young cast belt out impressive performances with gusto, the band rocking out songs like The Wanderer, Da Do Ron Ron, Poetry in Motion, Do You Wanna dance etc etc. And a day at the seaside helps to create the type of nostalgia that really does make you feel good.

Bobby's voice reaches the Lyceum roof on Only the Lonely, while Laura's Teenager in Love is achingly heartfelt.

The whole cast certainly work together in unison, their ability and obvious enjoyment is transmitted to the audience.

The quality of the performance is simply staggering and from the last few numbers starting with Let's Twist Again; the whole Lyceum audience was on its feet, singing, clapping and dancing.

If this feelgood musical doesn't do what is says on the tin then really you must have died!

So many classic songs from the late 50's and 60's - nostalgia really doesn't get any better than this.

This show and cast deserves to run and run ....

Sheffield Telegraph Review

REVIEW: Dreamboats and Petticoats, Lyceum TheatrePremium Article Published Date: 03 December 2009
By Sean Bruce

AFTER a highly successful run in the West End, there is always the fear that a show won't travel well to the provinces.
However, Dreamboats and Petticoats was both breathtaking at times and hilarious at others and gave a chance to marvel at some amazing songs from the golden era of rock n roll.

Set in 1961, when Kennedy became US president and the E type Jag was born, nostalgia may have drawn many of the mainly middle-aged audience but it definitely entertained the younger elements too.

Inspired by the million-selling albums of the same name, Dreamboats and Petticoats was made into a musical by Laurence Marks and Mark Gran of Goodbye Sweetheart and Birds Of a Feather fame.

The songs used are classic tracks from the likes of Orbison, Cochran, The Shadows and countless others.

The mix of humour and selection of songs to tell the story is a near-perfect fit and has the capacity audience singing and clapping along after the first few ice-breakers until nearly everyone is on their feet dancing at the finale.

The role of Norman is played by Jonathan Bremner of X Factor fame, whose impressive singing took the eye among an excellent cast.

One of many highlights is an interweaving of two songs, Runaway and Who's Sorry Now, sung at the same time with alternate lines, which sounds unlikely but works a treat. Why venture to London when Sheffield can draw shows of this quality ?

Tuesday 1 December 2009

Sheffield's Top 10 this Week

Below is a link to the Sheffield Telegraphs top 10 for the week and funnily enough Dreamboats and Petticoats has maded it at Number 3 Just behind Ricky Gervais and the Lady Boys of Bangkok.

Sheffield Telegraph


So all in the Sheffield Area make sure you try and get along to see the final week of this years tour. And good luck to the cast hope your last week goes with a bang and then you can all enjoy a well deserved rest you've been fabulous.