Camden New Journal - Theatre: A Slice of Saturday Night

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Published: 13 December 2007

Endearingly wobbly, much like we all were ‘back then’

A SLICE OF SATURDAY NIGHT
Courtyard Theatre

PLEASE go and see this show, and take your friends and family too.
Not because you will get to see Sir Ian McKellen on stage – you won’t, some of the cast are not yet out of theatre school. Not because you will go to a grand West End theatre – the paint is still drying on the walls at the new Hoxton home of the Courtyard Theatre.
And not because everybody in this sweet musical excels at singing and dancing – they don’t. In fact, some of the singing is a little croaky.
Go because, for all its rough-around-the-edges rawness, it is still one of the warmest shows you could be treated to this Christmas, a hearty production full of wit and playful charm and completely devoid of pretentiousness.
The trick with A Slice of Saturday Night is to borrow memorable riffs from the sounds of the Sixties, twisting snippets of The Animals or The Kinks and others into new songs laden with smart observations about teenage angst and first dates.
It might sound like tired territory but the script, lyrics and delivery are perfectly pitched to remind everybody of their first fumbling attempts to speak to a girl (or boy) they fancied. We laugh about it now but it wasn’t funny when you were in the position of Rick (Wander Leon), who, finding himself alone with the girl he fancies, starts nervously chattering about the history of The Beatles rather than tell her he likes her. Then again, I’d be nervous too if I had to sing a duet with Sophie Caruana, who as Sharon is easily the best singer in the cast and doesn’t hold back. It’s been a while since A Slice of Saturday Night has been a West End musical and it’s a shame that it has been overlooked for a revival on a bigger stage.
Until it is, the kids from the Courtyard are doing it proud.
Until December 22
0870 163 0717

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