The Drifters Girl (London) London Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (158)
See it if You like the Drifters music and a concert atmosphere
Don't see it if You like non confusing storylines and character developments
See it if You want great vocals and some really tight singing
Don't see it if You like big splashy musicals. This is a small cast show with no ensemble.
See it if you like the drifters
Don't see it if you expect the real history
See it if The voices in this show are brilliant
Don't see it if The book is pretty bad
See it if The show is brilliant and thought provoking.A black woman in a man's world who created a band who's music is still loved today.Don't miss it
Don't see it if There's nothing to dislike unles you are a sad person.Everything is totally BRILLIANT.If you don't like the Drifters don't go simple as that
See it if you want a perfect jukebox musical with a difference - wrapped in amongst the songs is a woman in a 'man's' industry and challenging issues
Don't see it if you just want to see Beverley Knight - I've seen the UK tour version - Carly Mercedes Dyer is wonderful in the title role
See it if Love motown
Don't see it if Can be slightly confusing at first
See it if You like a play that is also like a live concert. Amazing voices and great acting. A motown lovers dream!
Don't see it if You don't like Motown or more singing than acting in musicals
Critic Reviews (9)
The staging is pleasingly simple ... [but] Ed Curtis’s script is awful. Ultimately ... this show depends on the quality of the music ... [when] Knight transitions into full-throated song, time seems to stop. Her four male co-stars deliver immaculate performances.
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And as a musical it certainly has its moments: basically any time Knight gets to sing. Her hardworking supporting cast ... are gifted multitaskers with fine voices. I couldn’t help but find ‘The Drifters Girl’ a bit tawdry. This is the jukebox musical genre at its most cynical.
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But this show ... relies on that catalogue of songs too heavily, which compromises the narrative journey and emotional force. Ed Curtis’s book features bite-sized scenes with neat bland soundbites. Knight blows us away with each number.
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The sound of the show ... is exquisite, Beverley Knight leading the way and raising the roof at points in the title role. Yet the dramatic balance doesn’t feel quite right yet. The changing roster of men in the line-up, and in Treadwell’s life, repeatedly woo us with calculated charm.
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It’s the script that doesn’t quite work. Still, it’s wonderful to see the multitasking [cast] handle not just the singing, but [an] array of subsidiary roles. The songs ... are adorable.
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There's not much dramatic engagement in the story; all the characters who wander through remain outlines rather than people. [However], Adam J Bernard, Tarinn Callender, Matt Henry, and Tosh Wanogho-Maud play every part and fill every voice. They are credited as co-creators and in truth, they make the show.
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Ed Curtis's book is rather less pioneering; in fact, it falls into all the worst traps of jukebox bio-musicals. Knight, of course, brings her own firepower, and the musical kicks into high gear whenever she has a solo number.
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It’s the performances that jerk tears, conjure smiles, make hearts swoon or ache – not the story. As a musical it flails, but every time the quartet layers up those coil-tight harmonies, or Knight lets rip, it’s heaven.
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