The joys of jukebox musicals

the music of British pop band Madness. To impress his girlfriend, Joe breaks into a building site after attending a party. When the police arrive, Joe convinces Sarah to run away and is left with the decision of whether to run away or give himself up. The story splits into two paths revealed by the ghost of Joe’s dead criminal dad: the right path where Joe gives himself up, and the wrong path where he runs away.

For me, the songs don’t lend themselves to musical theatre well; it feels clunky and wrong when the Madness discography is accompanied by choreography, and the story is weak and confusing with the story splitting into the two possible outcomes of Joe’s life.

Our House was one of the many jukebox musicals produced after the phenomenal success of Mamma Mia . In the successful film, which is accompanied by the West End production that has been running for over 24 years, it uses the music of Swedish pop band ABBA to tell a story of love in the sun-drenched Greek islands. I love Mamma Mia , and so does every person I know: the characters are wellrounded, the songs fit seamlessly to the story; what sounds better than a massive party on stage or screen to forget

Art, summer and returning

the usually gloomy English weather?

I saw the theatre production in the summer, and as well as being feel-good and upbeat, it was technically impressive too: the dancing in the group numbers was incredible, and the set really emulated Greece and the summer. I also saw Bat Out of Hell in the summer, with songs from the Bat Out of Hell album by Meat Loaf and this was another jukebox musical that managed to fit already formulated songs around a well-written book. My advice — don’t disregard a jukebox musical. It will either be the best thing you’ve ever seen, or the worst, and either way you will have to stay for the bows.