The Drifters Girl at New Victoria Theatre, Woking Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by Kelly Victoria
It was a real pleasure to go and watch The Drifters Girl at New Victoria Theatre in Woking last night. It’s officially one of my favourite local theatres and I’m always excited to go and attend a night at the theatre there.
Having not really understood much around the storyline behind The Drifters, I wasn’t too sure what to expect from the show.
The show takes you on a journey through the life of the band and the many changes that happen through the entirety of the band’s formation. The show centres around Faye Treadwell (played by Carly Mercedes Dyer) who you learn has unrelentless determination and tenacity that she applies to ensure the long-term success of the band and is the constant through the many changes and challenges that the group sees through its lifetime.
You find yourself on a musical journey through the many eras of The Drifters and learn how they have impacted the lives and music genre that they represent through their success. The whole audience was toe tapping as number after number was sang superbly by the four members of the band who brilliantly represented all of the differing band members throughout the story.
With hardships, tragedies, sacrifice and many ups and downs it’s clear to understand that The Drifters made a real impact.
The Drifters Girl (played by Jaydah Bell-Ricketts) is used in a unique way to represent herself seeing the story unfold through her own eyes and appears in many scenes looking from the outside in. She gets to see the story unfold as her father George Treadwell (played by Miles Anthony Daley) falls in love with her mother Faye and watches how they build a life together and the journey that managing the band takes them on.
The show touches really intelligently and gently on the prejudices that the band encounter throughout their success and especially Faye as a strong and ambitious woman of colour who has to encounter many challenges.
The story is told in a very unique way, in that there are only 6 cast members with the four members of The Drifters telling the story and playing differing characters throughout the show, even outside of being in the band. This did leave me a little confused at times and I had to really think about what was happening in the scenes to fully understand what was going on. That being said, the cast are on the stage pretty much for the entirety of the show which shows real stamina, endurance and professionalism. There are also some great comedic moments that had the whole audience belly laughing.
If you love music of the era, you are in for a real treat, I found myself recognising many more songs than I thought that I would including numbers that everyone loves such as “Come on Over to my Place”, “Saturday Night at the Movies” and many more.
With sharp suits and iconic dance moves to match you really are transported to the era and feel like you’re watching a real-life performance from The Drifters themselves.
Carly Mercedes Dyer’s vocals as Faye are strong and powerful and you could feel the emotion and depth of character in each song that she belted beautifully.
All four of The Drifters were incredible to watch with vocals as smooth as silk and iconic dance moves. They perfectly performed iconic number after iconic number impeccably. Special kudos does have to go to the vocals of Ashford Campbell playing Ben E. King and Rudy Lewis who literally had the audience melting at the tone and depth of his vocals.
The audience were entirely on their feet at the end of the show and loved singing and dancing along with the band. With the performance receiving a full standing ovation it’s safe to say that a good night was had by all.
The New Victoria Theatre in Woking is home to the show from 21st to 25th November with tickets available from just £13.
https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/the-drifters-girl/new-victoria-theatre/
Rating: 4/5