Flashdance -The Musical. Shaftesbury Theatre

'Flashdance -The Musical'
Shaftesbury Theatre, London.
Previewing 24th Sept 2010.
Opening night 14Th Oct 2010.
Limited season only until 26 February 2011.

Written by Tom Hedley and Robert Cary, with music by Robbie Roth, lyrics by Robert Cary and Robbie Roth.
Directed by Nikolai Foster.
Choreography by Arlene Phillips.

'Flashdance -The Musical', based on the Paramount Pictures film (screenplay by Tom Hedley and Joe Eszterhas, story by Tom Hedley), is produced in the West End by Christopher Malcolm, David Ian, The Baruch Viertel Routh Frankel Group, and Transamerica.

Set in Pittsburgh, USA, 'Flashdance -The Musical' tells the story of 18-year old Alex, a welder by day and ‘flashdancer’ by night, whose dream is to obtain a place at the prestigious Shipley Dance Academy. This musical about holding on to your dreams and love against all the odds features an iconic score including Maniac, Manhunt, Gloria, I Love Rock and Roll and the Academy award-winning title track Flashdance -What a Feeling.

Updated On: 7/1/10 at 05:23 AM

Bottom of my list!

somebody had to wake me up once it was over!

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People are just fed up of this never ending run of those not so hot Paramount movies of the 80s being flung in front of them at West End prices!

At least Priscilla on stage is fun and has taken a new take on the movie which is very dark (your words a few months back ha!) and now at the Palace is one big camp party with no expense sparred and Broadway bound.
I wont be expecting the same with 'Flashdance' as that certainly didn't happen with the likes of 'Dirty Dancin', 'Fame', 'Footloose' etc etc etc etc etc.

I HAVE seen it, and it was pretty dull! It wasnt fun in a camp way such a Footloose, it was just dull. I didnt think any of the new songs were that memorable, Victoria was a stand out though so I hop ite a hit to give her wider recognition. The surprise was Bruno Langley who had a really good voice!

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Updated On: 7/1/10 at 08:09 AM

You must have had a bad trip down the day you saw 'Priscilla' thats all I can say!

To even it up I thought both Priscilla and Flashdance were as bad as eachother. Priscilla was lazy in creation and for me didnt have the feelgood and fun factor of say Hairspray or Mamma Mia or even Footloose.

I think Dirty Dancing gets a hard time actually. Yes its not original in anyway, and I didnt enjoy it especially, but I think the quality of production is very good. The staging is well done, the sets etc are really good. I do think it could have been an amazing stage show as a brand new musical, and more dancing! For a show with dancing in the title there isnt that much in the show.

Fame I think is the worse, its book and score were awful. Flashdance does beat Fame Ill admit that.

I do think these shows serve a good purpose, they are good sellers and help keep local theatres in business. I think its snobbish to dismiss them completely, but neither do I think they are often West End quality

Mamma i love the Fame logo, i think that has also become a very iconic logo. The footloose and Flashdance ones represent the films and shows well, hate the Dirty Dancing ones.

Logos are meant to represent the show, IE Priscialla and a big shoe lol.

Dont get me wrong i thought Priscialla was fun but nothing special.

Bob i was in Fame for a long time and i just grew to hate it. Its nothing like the wonderful film and feels like an even cheaper cash in on the TV series which was in turn a cheap cash in itself. It's a great show for young talent to start out in but the book is a mess, only a few songs work and since they changed the Choreogrpahy from the original london choreography which i loved doing to a dumbed down version which now can be seen its lost its dance edge as well

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Princeton, basically shows that do not insult my intelligence and have a serious underbelly to them will always make me "feel good". More than anything I guess - the show has to have a score with music I like. (I hated the score to Hairpspray for example so that could never cheer me up.)

Spring Awakening certainly gave me a feel-good factor - because I found it both deeply emotionally affecting and uplifting at the same time - and the score blew me away. Next To Normal - again though very serious in its theme made me feel incredibly good for every second of the show each time I've seen it.

On the other hand, shows with music I hate will have the opposite effect on me, as will shows with mindlessly silly books and forced and therefore "unfunny" humour (which is how I felt about Hairspray, Mama Mia, Shrek, etc.)

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Updated On: 7/1/10 at 10:14 AM

ah ok cool. Do you like any lighthearted ones?

AveQ go and see the tour, its brilliant and better than the final London cast in my view.

*I'm still bitter 'Hairspray' got kicked out for this.*

Hairspray did not get kicked out, it just was not selling well

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