Spend your money on this (Spend Spend Spend)

Name:

Hello doyoo user, You have to be logged in to use these functions... Login or register Close window

Product:	Spend Spend Spend
Date:	01/09/01 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great songs, performances, and high feelgood factor

Disadvantages: none

Spend Spend Spend is a musical set in 1961. Yorkshire housewife Viv Nicholson won a fortune on the pools- her life changed completely. But the money did not bring Viv happiness, it changed her life but as the title suggests - the money was spent immediately! The musical explores the adulation that Viv receives because of her new found wealth but also looks out how money cannot buy you love.

Spend Spend Spend is currently on a regional tour. It struggled in the West End to compete with The Lion King and the endless conveyor belt of Lloyd Webber musicals by numbers. This is a real shame because Spend has the power to move the audience beyond belief. Barbara Dickson fought to get the musical tour on the road.

Barbara Dickson plays the older Viv Nicholson, the happy-go-lucky Liverpudlian who won the pools only to find that the wealth lead her on the road to drink, heartache and unhappiness.

This unflinching tale contains funny lines a plenty but each has a melancholic aftertaste that Lloyd Webber and Disney can only dream of. Barbara Dickson is a revelation as is her young co-star- Rachel Leskovac, each of them displaying Viv's wit and sheer grit and determination in equal measures.

The main reason for seeing Spend are the performances. Dickson and Leskovac really do have the power to make you feel like you are walking on air as you leave the theatre.

The songs are memorable but not as repetitious as most. The powerful vocals paper over any lyrical shortcomings.

The set is minimal, although a conveyor belt carrying all the things Viv bought after her big win is very effective and raises a chuckle and a tear at the same time. As the expensive gifts whizz past you, you realise that they ended up in the hands of the bailiffs!

If you are thinking of seeing a musical, don't go for the obvious choices - spend your money on this gem and I can guarantee you won't be asking for your money back. <
br>
Spend Spend Spend won Oliver awards and was loved by critics. But it stuggled to find an audience in London. Hopefully, the show will get the audience it deserves on this tour.

Want see if this excellent musical is on near you? - check out:

www.barbaradickson.com

or www.ticketmaster.co.uk

The show is in Milton Keynes in Oct and Manchester in Nov.

Summary: