I’ve not seen Fat Friends the T.V. Show and, after watching the musical, I’ve not been inspired too, either.
The plot loosely follows Kelly (Jodie Prenger) on her mission to lose a couple of stone before her wedding to Kevin (Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff) in Six weeks so she can fit into her dream wedding dress. This only seemed to come about as some kind of incentive from Slimmer’s Club owner Julia Fleshman (Natasha Hamilton) who promised to pay for the entire wedding if she stuck to the weightloss plan and managed to fit into the dress. Moral and ethical issues popped up in the form of weightloss pills, and “Not losing sight of who you are”, but they were more like stepping stones in a show that was lacking in any real substance.
The cast were great, Prenger was great to watch and carried herself well, and Sam Bailey, who played her mother Betty, was the best one on stage in my opinion. I’m not altogether sure on the thought process behind casting Freddie as the lead male, though. Sure, he’s one of the country’s golden boys, and he’s got a cheeky charm about him, but is he right for a musical? I don’t think so. He’s not a terrible actor, I just wasn’t wowed by him. He can sing, sort of, but maybe not to the quality of what you’d expect on stage. When he made his first appearance he was greeted by whoops and applause, which made me wonder if a lot of the audience weren’t just there to see him. Still, although I don’t want to admit it, I still enjoyed watching him, he took the part he was given and made it his. Another notable member of the cast for me was Neil Hurst as Alan, another member of the slimming club, and a bit of comic relief.
The set was well designed, all action taking place on a street in Headingly with a church, and chippy, and a bridal shop. Choreography and score weren’t bad, a particular favourite of mine being “Chocolate”, I liked the nod towards Cadburies purple. However it’s not something I’m going to be adding to my playlists or whistling tomorrow.
I think half the charm with this musical is the Yorkshire accent, adding a bit of salt of the earth, add a peppering of double entendres, and you’ve got a recipe for a tongue in cheek few hours. As I said before, though, it lacks any substance, depth, or emotional connection. It’s just easy watching, something I might have on in the background if I wasn’t really paying attention, which isn’t something you want if you’ve had to hand over cash for a show.
Showing at Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 31st March tickets are available here.
Review by Johnny Banks
