Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, the brains behind the enormously successful Dreamboats and Petticoats, have obviously worked out that they have a winning formula because they have now created a second production with a huge dose of early 60s nostalgia. The format, which cleverly mixes a storyline with the hits of the period, is very similar to Dreamboats, but with Save the Last Dance for Me the action takes place in that hotbed of sin and debauchery – Lowestoft.
Two girls from Luton, seventeen year old Marie (played by Elizabeth Carter) and her older sister, Jennifer (Lola Saunders) head off on their very first unsupervised holiday, leaving their very worried parents at home. The Suffolk weather, reminiscent of many British summers, is wet and dreary but, just when they think their holiday is a washout, along comes the handsome American airman Milton (Antony Costa). He invites them to a dance at the local American Air Force base and there the story really begins.
Set to a fantastic soundtrack of songs by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, the show features million selling tunes, and some of the lesser known ones, by the likes of Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, The Searchers, The Drifters, Ben E King and very many more. The show features, quite heavily, the topics of racism and mixed race partnerships and, to compliment this, the music is very “deep south” with some brilliant blues songs throughout.
Elizabeth Carter, who was also superb in the lead role in Dreamboats and Petticoats, and X-Factor finalist Lola Saunders, as the two lead females, both have superb voices and portray their characters incredibly well, with Jennifer coming across as ultra confident and Marie as suitably naïve and vulnerable.
Antony Costa, from boyband Blue, takes the role of Milton, the archetypal ladies man and, with his strong voice and surprisingly good American accent, he plays the part very well.
The main love interest in the piece is Curtis, played with great feeling and dignity by Wayne Robinson. He voices the fears of African Americans at that time very well, and he offers quite a chilling reminder that the time we are talking about is not that long ago. He gets most of the love songs in the production and showcases a voice that is a perfect combination of power and feeling.
Special mention also has to go to Sackie Osakonor who plays the character of Sergeant Rufus. He is particularly intimidating when he talks, and really belts it out when he sings the Blues.
With all 17 members of the cast constantly switching between acting, dancing, singing and playing the live music this is a true ensemble piece and, without doubt, one of the highlights has to be when Carlo (Alan Howell) the “Italian ice cream man from Wolverhampton”, who appears to be a comic character throughout, suddenly unleashes his incredible falsetto voice in the full company a capella version of the song Hushabye by The Mystics, much to the delight of the packed Assembly Hall Theatre audience.
A heartwarming love story, full of superb music, and bucket loads of nostalgia.
**** 4 stars