Now That's What I Call a Musical at The Bristol Hippodrome - April 2025
Posted on: 2025-04-02
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Vivienne Kennedy reviews Now That’s What I Call a Musical, playing at The Bristol Hippodrome until Saturday 5 April 2025
Review: Now That’s What I Call a Musical at The Bristol Hippodrome
Inspired by a very well known (to those of us of a certain age) series of compilation albums, Now That’s What I Call a Musical is billed as ‘an event you won’t want to miss’. I’m not convinced, it was a pleasant enough way to spend a Tuesday evening, but it won’t go down on my list of all-time favourites.
Written by Pippa Evans with choreography by Craig Revel Horwood, who is also the director, the show takes us on a 20-year journey, from 1989 to 2009, following two best friends, Gemma and April, from school days to school reunion.
It takes me a while to get into it… there are many scenes featuring the younger and older versions of each character, which is a little confusing to start with, and a lot of chair moving! The story grows stronger in Act Two, with a few fairly unexpected twists, some of which draw loud universal gasps from the audience.
Slightly weirdly, apart from a giant neon album title hanging above the stage at the start of each act, the Now albums aren’t mentioned at all.
Nina Wadia and Nikita Johal and Sam Bailey and Maia Hawkins, all turn in great performances as the older and younger Gemma and April. And I have to give a shout out to Chris Grahamson and Kieran Cooper, playing the older and younger versions of Tim, Gemma’s husband; between them, they manage to make the character so unpleasant that I physically cringe at times.
There’s a good mix of songs, all of which make sense alongside the script, and a guest appearance by Sonia is received well by the audience. I notice in the programme that Sinitta, Carol Decker, and Toyah Willcox are also listed as special guests, presumably appearing at other stops on the tour, and I find myself wondering how much the show has to change in order to fit their individual songs into the storyline.
Apart from excessive furniture relocation, which, in fairness, does generally serve a purpose, I think the sets, designed by Tom Rogers and Toots Butcher, are really rather good. I particularly like a view of ‘beautiful’ Birmingham.
Being honest, this is not a show I’m likely to book tickets to see again if it returns to Bristol in the future. For me, it’s a three-star production.
For further information about this show and others at The Bristol Hippodrome, and to book tickets, click here.
Please note, the age guidance is 6+ but there is some swearing, particularly in Act Two.
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Vivienne Kennedy says she lives and works in Bristol but sleeps in Weston-super-Mare, which is where she’s actually lived pretty much all her life. During the day, she is Head of Broadmead BID (Business Improvement District), supporting retailers in Bristol Shopping Quarter. Away from work, she’s been reviewing theatre, music and art in Bristol for more than 12 years and is rarely happier than when watching a good show at the Hippodrome or Old Vic.
