‘The Drifters Girl’ is a relatively new jukebox musical which is currently embarked on a tour of the UK. You can catch it this week at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley. It tells the story of Faye Treadwell, the manager of the chart-topping American soul group The Drifters, covering their rise to international stardom as well as the often tumultuous backstage events.
The story is a strong and captivating one. Faye Treadwell (sensationally played by Carly Mercedes Dyer) achieves what seems impossible. She guides The Drifters to the top of the entertainment industry in a world that doesn’t make it easy for someone both black and female. Mercedes Dyer is completely convincing in the part and plays Treadwell with feistiness. She also provides moments of vulnerability that ensure her character’s journey captures the audience’s hearts and minds from beginning to end. Her powerful and moving singing voice completes what is an impressive and memorable central performance.
Mercedes Dyer is well-supported in this highly enjoyable production. Playing her husband and confidante George is Miles Anthony Daley, whose chemistry with the leading lady is excellent. His rendition of ‘There Goes My Baby’ is one of the highlights of the night.
‘The Drifters Girl’ recounts the ever-changing roster of members of the group, long before the likes of the Sugababes endlessly changed the line-up but maintained the same name. In fact, who owns the rights to call a group ‘The Drifters’ is a question that is central to the plot, once former members become available for poaching to form an unofficial rival group. At one point, all of the members of the group are projected onto the screen to reinforce in the audience’s mind that there never really was a definitive line-up.
The musical brings to the foreground the memorable personalities of key members. Joining Miles Anthony Daley to provide vocals for the band is an equally talented cast comprising Ashford Campbell, Tarik Frimpong and Daniel Haswell. They all have their moments to shine. A standout for us was Ashford Campbell, who gets to sing ‘Stand By Me’ (Ben E King was a former band member who went solo). He is especially haunting as Rudy Lewis, a gentle but vulnerable soul. The energetic young cast has excellent comic timing and some playfulness with the dizzying array of characterisations provides welcome touches of levity.
If you like the music of ‘The Drifters’, then this production has their best hits sung by talented performers to the backing of a live band. That in itself is a joyous experience. You’ll hear ‘Saturday Night at the Movies’, ‘Under the Boardwalk’, ‘Save the Last Dance for Me’, ‘Kissin’ in the Back Row of the Movies’ and many other classics. The set design and lighting, which combine to produce abstract and adaptable staging, is another highly impressive aspect of this show.
Negative notes are much fewer, but the doubling or tripling up of parts is a mixed blessing. It allows the cast a lot of creative freedom, but it also requires the audience to remember who’s playing who from scene to scene. It’s probably the only way to do it without condensing the story too far, but nevertheless, it possibly asks a lot of the audience at times. Secondly, there’s a somewhat heavy-handed use of an expositional device to move the plot along. This results from using songs with lyrics that weren’t written to tell the story playing out on stage, as it’s a common feature of the jukebox musical. But with many costume changes and never much of an interval between songs, these minor grievances are allayed by a visually impressive production.
Overall, ‘The Drifters Girl’ is a great night out at the theatre. It has a strong central premise and is brought to life by a terrific and fully-committed cast. Be sure to catch this theatrical celebration of iconic music from the artistically transformative decades of 1950s and 60s. ‘The Drifters Girl’ is one of the best jukebox musicals we’ve seen, and this touring production is worth seeing for Carly Mercedes Dyer’s performance alone.
Cast: Carly Mercedes Dyer, Miles Anthony Daley, Ashford Campbell, Tarik Frimpong, Daniel Haswell, Jaydah Bell-Ricketts Writers: Ed Curtis, Tina Treadwell Director: Jonathan Church Duration: 140 mins Theatre: The Churchill, Bromley Dates: 23rd – 27th April 2024 Book tickets for ‘The Drifters Girl’
