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Last night I left behind the worries of the credit crunch, and the dirty dishes at home, and took a trip down Memory Lane. I am guilty of living my life in the fast lane, with never enough  hours in the day to do all that I want to, but just for 2 hours I escaped, and it was lovely!

The musical, Dreamboats and Petticoats  is at present running at the Savoy theatre, and we were invited by a friend to join them and see the show. It is set in the early 1960s, which is when I was a teenager, so it felt right when we entered the theatre to see so many people of my age group, all there to recapture the happy times of their youth.

I didn’t even know who was in the cast, so  when it started I couldn’t help noticing the young man who played Bobby, it could have been Billy Fury in his youth. The resemblance was amazing, and all added to the credibility of it all. He was in fact, Scott Bruton, who recently appeared on XFactor. His portrayal of a shy Essex boy was  touching, and his voice was very good.

It was a twee little story about young love, but that didn’t matter. The songs were amazing, and I remembered just how wonderful pop music was then, as it’s so easy to forget as the years go by. The cast seemed to enjoy every minute of it, they danced, they sang with such vivacity, and it certainly had the feel good factor about it. I had forgotten just how innocent life was in those day, but it was recaptured perfectly, especially by Daisy Wood Davis, who had a beautiful voice, and a perfect choice to be the naive Laura, who changed from a duckling to a swan by the time she reached her sixteenth birthday.

It was great to see girls in dresses and lovely frilly skirts with pretty petticoats. , and not a pair of trousers in sight! We were very feminine in thos e days, so why did we want to be equal with men?

For me the most outstanding performance was from Ben Freeman, who I had previously remembered as Scott  in Emmerdale. He had the perfect swagger, and high opinion of himself, which was essential for the part of Norman, and I have to say he also had a very good voice. I found his character both amusing and infectious, so it is no wonder when he invited us to join in the twist with the cast at the end, that I ended up in the aisle doing my bit. But it wasn’t just me, it was great to look around me and see so much audience participation, and the pleasure on people’s faces at enjoying themselves so much.

So if you need a lift, or a happy reminder of the good old days, get yourself along to the Savoy. It’a great show, there are too many in the cast to mention, but it’s a great team effort from the whole cast, and not to be missed!