Whatever You Want

This is the world premier of a completely new musical written by Jim and Kate Baker. It began as an idea conceived by them whilst on holiday in Spain in 2009 and follows holiday makers on a package holiday to Ibiza in 1979. The story line is worked around 28 classic songs of an iconic band of the ‘70’s - Status Quo. On the holiday are the Wicks, a family of five from Yorkshire, a supposedly well-to-do family of four, the Beauchamps, a larger than life couple, the Wallis’, plus a group of three boys and another of three girls and added into the mix are cabin crew and hotel staff. It would be most unfair and indeed extremely difficult to single out any of the 21 cast members as they all played their differing roles so well. The singing of all the soloists was excellent and the accompanying ‘backing’ of many of the numbers was harmoniously superb. Great energy was needed by the cast to perform all the numbers which were well choreographed and all executed with wonderful enthusiasm. The six piece band was outstanding giving authentic renditions of the sound we associate with Status Quo, however, I felt that in a few of the numbers, the balance between the band and singers needed a little adjustment! The sets were extremely imaginative taking us from an airport lounge, to the interior of an aeroplane, to the hotel with its various amenities and all aided by very effective back projections. The stage crew worked overtime to achieve the many scene changes, I’ve never before witnessed so many chairs in such a small space being so proficiently and swiftly moved about! A fabulous combination of a great band with a superb cast, good sets, lighting and sound made this a very special experience and I must say ‘Whatever You Want, Whatever You like’ was certainly what I liked! Congratulations to all involved especially to Kate and Jim for this inspirational and superb production.

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