The Drifters Girl, created by Ed Curtis, tells the story of tenacious band manager, Faye Treadwell, who led The Drifters throughout their many incarnations and legal battles to success. The musical whizzes through three decades of music and how prolific those tunes remain 70 years later is proof of Faye’s legacy.
The show relies on this extensive catalogue, with familiar songs including “Saturday Night at the Movies”, “Save the Last Dance” and “Come on Over to My Place”, all fading out briefly for bite sized scenes to move the story along. The narrative is mostly steered by Faye’s inquisitive daughter, played by Jaydah Bell-Ricketts, who we find out little about and is unnamed in the performance.
Loren Anderson stood in for Carly Mercedes Dyer as Faye on press night, who despite a few wobbly notes blazes her way through the show as the determined band manager, head held high as she navigates the trials and tribulations of being an African-American woman in the 50s. Her vocal performance picks up momentum by “Nobody but Me” leading to an emotive rendition of “I Don’t Want to Go On Without You” rounding off the first act, but it’s the eponymous quartet that spearheads the production musically.
The minimal cast uses just four members to portray every member of the band, Miles Anthony Daley, Ashford Campell, Tarik Frimpong, and Ethan Davis standing in for Dalton Harris all transforming into musicians, management, and in Miles’ case, Faye’s husband George Treadwell. It’s remarkable how rapidly they’re all able to switch mannerisms, voices, and costumes thanks to Fay Fullerton’s outfit designs, while maintaining those buttery smooth harmonies.
Facilitating those rapid transitions together are Ben Cracknell’s lighting, Antony Ward’s set, and Andrez Goulding’s video designs which may appear visually simple but work as harmoniously as the music to tie the production together successfully.
The whole cast brings charisma to the stage, and an unexpected sense of fun with the Roger double act as well as weightier moments – “Stand By Me” is a standout number.
While touching on weightier themes, this jukebox musical is ultimately a crowd pleaser, providing a surface-level insight into what went on behind the scenes of producing the famous chart-topping hits.
The Drifters Girl is at The Curve, Leicester until 4th November before continuing its UK tour, purchase tickets here https://www.curveonline.co.uk/whats-on/shows/the-drifters-girl/
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Katie Reviews 