Scintillating, staggering, and scandalous: Footballers Wives: The Musical is a musical retelling of the noughties TV series, and a brilliant show of glitz, glam, and West End-bound musical prowess.
An outstanding score with music and lyrics by Kath Gotts, the show details the lives of the rich and fabulous Footballers Wives, whilst revealing darker truths of betrayal, adultery, and, in the case of protagonist Tanya Turner, even a looming manslaughter charge… which she somehow manages to evade.
Ceili O’Connor’s Tanya Turner is a formidable, fierce figure, yet, especially in the face of her cruel, self-serving husband Jason (Matt Beveridge), the audience are rooting for her every step of the way. A Machiavellian, or “Lady Macbeth” type figure as the Queen Bee WAG, she brings an almost medieval, cut-throat lens to 2000’s celebrity culture. With performances like ‘Don’t Lose It’, she is power-hungry, yet layered in vulnerability that only pushes her further; it is absolutely magnificent. O’Connor’s truly show-stopping vocal prowess holds the room in the palm of her hand: she is a tour de force, and the show thrives with her at the helm.
Salacious and sleezy, Matt Beveridge’s Jason is particularly insidious, but successfully portrayed, the worst perpetrator of the bachelor party bad behaviour, having affair after affair. In contrast, Chardonnay Lane (India Chadwick) and besotted fiancé Kyle Pascoe (Tom Bowen), plan their fairytale wedding, a refreshing yet silly show of romance (and unwavering fidelity) amidst toxic cheating culture.
Leesa Tulley’s Donna Walmsley, who initially feels like an outsider amidst WAG culture, is raw, pain-stricken, and disillusioned when rumours, and, worst of all, newspaper headlines, emerge about her husband’s (Oliver Evans) supposed cheating. Tulley’s performance of ‘Just a Girl Who Loved a Boy’ was genuine, heartfelt, and vocally outstanding, evoking a visceral response from the audience.
Other standouts include Gillian Kirkpatrick as Nurse Dunkley, who is appropriately quirky, whimsical, and as amoral as the rest, while Emma-Jane Fearnly and Ty-Reece Stewart proved that talent shone throughout the cast, even if somewhat under-utilised as Kelly and Ronnie Charles.
Although a few issues with sound balancing meant that performers had to overcompensate with heavy dosages of belting, the show’s score was particularly catchy, with standouts like ‘Who, Who, Who?’. The show’s aesthetic was also especially captivating; 2000’s style has never been so glorified, with hair, make-up, and costume creating the perfect show-stealing combination. Especially with Tanya’s pouf fringe and long, dangling pony-tale, simultaneously pragmatic and powerful, these creative and aesthetic decisions dazzled.
Gleaming and shimmering with brilliant hits and outstanding performances, Footballers Wives: The Musical is an absolute must-see at this year’s Fringe Festival, an escapist step-back into noughties stardom.
Image by Seamus Ryan, provided to The Student as press.