9 – 13 January
On the face of it, The Drifters Girl seems to be yet another juke box musical appealing to an audience keen to get their fix on a rose-tinted version of nostalgia.
It concerns the story of the American black vocal group The Drifters, but more prominently the woman who managed them through the decades. The most interesting element of the story is that not only was Faye Treadwell a woman, and probably the only woman managing a band in the heavily male dominated music scene, but that she was a black woman.
Action opens with Faye talking to her daughter about an oncoming legal case over ownership of the very name ‘The Drifters’. A refrain heard several times is that although you can call yourself the New York Yankees because you have old players on your team, there is only one New York Yankees. And a remarkable feature of The Drifters is that up to the present day there have been over sixty different members of the group.
The show, embodied by the four performers playing the male roles, is at its strongest when portraying many of those singers. From origins as the backing group for Clyde McPhatter to the second incarnation featuring the future Ben E. King and then onto the tragic life of Rudy Lewis, characterisations are extremely rich. Miles Antony Daley as the original founder, George Treadwell, effortlessly conveys the strength of character and drive. The same is true for Ashford Cambell playing King and Lewis, Tarik Frimpong playing McPhatter and Lover Paterson and Daniel Haswell playing Johnny Moore. Their singing, dance routines, sharp transitions and sheer acting ability constantly drive the show forwards.
Carly Mercedes Dyer as Faye oozes control, and her ability to counter challenge with straight forward talking and clever put downs, is utterly convincing. We truly get to see the woman within.
The narrative mixes the right balance of humour into the story, with comic turns particularly apparent when the band relocate to the UK as Faye prepares herself financially to fight the court case. However with a cast of only six the part of Girl, played commendably by Jaydah Bell-Ricketts, seems strangely undeveloped with her role simply to ask questions in order to move the plot along.
There are no awkward set changes and no delays to milk applause. The simple set consisting in the main of a variety of concert and TV stages is fresh, with the lighting changes strikingly laser focussed. Choreography by Karen Bruce and characteristically assured direction by Jonathan Church add further quality to the production.
Given that The Drifters recorded so many well-known songs, including Kissin’ in the Back Row of the Movies, Sweets For My Sweet and Under the Boardwalk, there is an absence of any mention of the musicians who played on the songs, or of the writers. However for sheer entertainment and quality of performance this show is, as The Drifters might have sung, ‘more than a number in a little red book’.
★★★★☆
Bryan J Mason, 11 January, 2024
