Summer Holiday — The Musical
Sheffield Crucible
⭑⭑⭑⭑☆

IT WAS the year of the birth of Beatlemania, the Profumo Affair, the Great Train Robbery, the historic March on Washington, and the assassination of President JF Kennedy. Onto this tumultuous scene in 1963 burst the iconic film musical Summer Holiday starring Cliff Richard, known as Britain’s Elvis.

Sixty three years later, Sheffield Theatres, in association with Blackpool Grand Theatre, has revived it with a nod to nostalgia, but also with an injection of high energy and infectious enthusiasm, that gives it a contemporary feel-good factor in times quite different from the swinging ’60s when we were supposed to have “never had it so good!”

Directed by Elizabeth Newman and Ben Occhipinti, and adapted by Michael Gyngell and Mark Haddigan, Summer Holiday follows the adventures of four young Sheffield bus mechanics, who are loaned a South Yorkshire Transport double-decker bus, which they convert into a mobile home to journey across Europe.

Taking advantage of two weeks’ of annual paid leave recently won by the unions, Don and his work-mates Steve, Edwin and Cyril embark on the adventure of a lifetime. En route they give a lift to a stranded singing trio called “Do Re Mi” who are on their way to a gig in Athens. A gay relationship forms between group member Al (Matthew James Hinchliffe) and mechanic Edwin (Jim Duah) making an otherwise heteronormative storyline more inclusive which is truly heartwarming.

But things really start to happen when they discover a stowaway on the top deck, who turns out to be an American pop star disguised as a boy. She is fleeing from Stella, a controlling and exploitative theatrical mother, played by Jane McCarry with a good dose of slapstick humour, together with her agent Jerry (Damian Humbley). They make a good double act.

The multi-talented cast of actor-musicians set the pace from the very start, bursting on to the stage with a high-octave performance of songs against a set that transforms from a rather drab neighbourhood caff into a psychedelic backdrop, complemented by a riot of colourful costumes and the innovative use of props including a peripatetic model bus, mopeds and a retro Mini Cooper.

While not attempting to be a tribute act to Cliff Richard, George Jones as the charming Don is perfectly matched with the equally engaging Fanta Barrie as the stowaway Barbara, and there is a convincing chemistry between them. They really steal the show.

As in most escapist fantasies of this genre, romance blossoms, while all the songs popularised by Cliff Richard are sung, and after a series of comedic misunderstandings, and a brief accusation of kidnapping by the mother, everyone is reconciled leading to the proverbial happy ending. No wonder the audience is on its feet at the end singing and dancing along to “Do You Wanna Dance?”

You can’t beat this for unashamedly light-hearted summer entertainment so hop aboard. The next stop is my native Blackpool, “the playground of the working class.”

Runs until July 18. Box office: (0114) 249-6000, sheffieldtheatres.co.uk. Transfers to Blackpool Grand Theatre July 29 to August 8. Box office: 01253 290-190, blackpoolgrand.co.uk.