Posted: Sunday 18th November 2007

Roberta Glass (Kelly Price) is a bored housewife who becomes obsessed with a woman named Susan (Emma Williams) thanks to her addiction to the personal columns. As Roberta's infatuation with Susan grows she decides to try and catch a glimpse of her when one of the ads indicates a meeting place. As Roberta finally manages to see Susan, she unexpectedly becomes a victim of a mugger and knocks herself unconcious. When she wakes she can't remember who she is or anything about her life and she accidentally adopts Susan's identity. As Roberta tries to find out who she really is, Susan is on the run after stealing a pair of expensive earrings. Roberta and Susan's lives become more and more intertwined as the owner of the earrings comes looking for Susan and will go to any length to get them back.

Desperately Seeking Susan is a classic 80s movie so when we heard it was being turned into a West End musical we could hardly contain ourselves. How great it would be to hear the songs of Madonna up on stage whilst one of our favourite trashy movies is being played out infront of our very eyes. Well it would be great if that's what the creator of the musical had done but they didn't. Instead they've opted to use the songs of Blondie. Now if you, like us, are left scratching your head then you're probably not alone. There's no actual reason that Blondie songs have a place within Desperately Seeking Susan.

We went along to see the show with sceptical glasses on. Could this actually work or would it just feel like Blondie songs had been shoe-horned into a classic movie? Well the answer isn't as clear cut as we'd have liked. On some levels the show works but on others it's just plain bizarre. On the plus side the two lead actresses are superb in their roles. Both Price and Williams imitate their respective characters remarkably and both have admirable vocal prowess. The problem is that they are probably too good for this kind of show. The whole production feels a bit amateur and whilst the Blondie songs sound great, they just have no place in this musical. About half the time the songs work fairly well and fit the context of the situation but at other times it's all a bit random.

The other problem with the show is that aside from the lead actresses and Jonathan Wrather (who plays Roberta's husband Gary), the rest of the cast are quite ropey. The two male leads, Alec Newman (Dez) and Mark McGee (Jay) , are particularly ropey and their accents are all over the place. Vocally neither of them are fanstastic singers either and at time you could hardly hear what Newman was singing.

The best way to describe Desperately Seeking Susan is that it is theatre for people who don't usually go to the theatre (as said on the evening by a colleague). It's bright, colourful and fun but it's not up to the standard you would expect of the West End. Fans of Blondie will probably enjoy the performances of the classic hits such as The Tide Is High, One Way Or Another, Call Me and Atomic to name but a few. Fans of the movie will delight in seeing it being retold on the stage. Unfortunately the two fanbases probably won't enjoy the other parts of the show or, like us, find them good fun but completely bizarre.

Desperately Seeking Susan is a strange experience. Mums and grannies will probably love it but serious theatre-goers may want to give it a miss. If someone gets you tickets then go and see it and leave your brain at the door. It's not the worst thing you'll see on the West End stage but it's not likely to ever be the best either.