Memphis, Shaftesbury Theatre ****

The Cast of Memphis the musical

So many of the musicals that come over the pond in theatre's attempt to attract non- middle class, white, balding men to see their shows lose what, in my opinion, is key to theatre. Emotion. The big rock extravaganzas to the pop jukebox musical, these shows have come over here and either succeeded or failed but either way has lost sight of connecting on a deep level with it's audience. Any theatre must have emotion holding it together, whether it is the hatred in The Scottsboro Boys to the pain in Les Mis.This show manages to maintain emotion whilst still being rip- roaringly good fun. Unlike Made in Dagenham, the race issue is portrayed not in a sweetened or preachy sense but through the narrative and high quality music from David Bryan. Occasionaly, the lyrics are slightly too basic and sometimes it can seem to be just a rip- off of Hairspray but I don't mind that as it will live long in the memory far beyond the likes of other new musicals in the west end at the moment. Performance- wise, the actors/ dancers/ singers have such talent with dancing to the standard of Banks and voices that would not be seen out of place in a recording studio. This is a truly remarkable musical which caught me off guard and has the potential to run for a very long time.