That most fabulous, funny and flamboyant of theatrical duos, Stiles and Drewe are back with a new musical that takes the most classic of fables and turns it on its old-fashioned head to bring it bang up to date complete with Boris bikes and iPhones instead of the far less practical pumpkins and glass slippers.
Narrated in true storybook style by the always comforting vocal tones of Stephen Fry, Soho Cinders takes Stiles and Drewe down a more edgy road than they have travelled before, planting the Cinderella-inspired action in Soho’s Old Compton Road, the “glittering back passage” of London, where prostitutes hang out with shady business men and trendy latte drinkers purchase dodgy pills and powders from twitchy dealers.
Our Cinderella hero is transformed from sweeping skivvy to rent boy Robbie, a 20-something orphan paying for his studies by dubious means while his evil step-sisters – more TOWIE than ugly – plot to take over his late mother’s laundrette and further their strip club empire.
But of course there must be a Buttons and handsome prince too, and in this quirky version servants and royalty are replaced by the frizzy haired Velcro – as the programme notes say, more easy to do up than buttons – a diabetes inducingly sweet single mum, and James Prince, a closeted politician running for Mayor.
The theme is not the only place where Stiles and Drewe have taken a grown-up approach, with a book by Drewe and Elliot Davis that is bawdy, camp, silly and crude, but always packed full of heart and affection for each of the mismatched characters. The songs too take on a rawer, more pop music style, with ballads Let Him Go and Gypsies Of The Ether providing emotional peaks and Wishing For The Normal, with its lyrics calling for a life where romance means cleaning the Volvo and having a mortgage, set to surely resonate with the masses.
Newcomer Tom Milner is well cast as the cheeky leading man, far more hardy and independent than the Cinders you read about at bedtime. Michael Xavier is also suitably dashing as the politician who, inspired by the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, finds his private life overshadowing his potential political brilliance, while Jenna Russell adds class as his fiancé of convenience and Amy Lennox makes Velcro’s unrequited love and eternal hope entirely endearing.
Stealing the show however are Suzie Chard and Beverly Rudd as the utterly grotesque, leopard print clad sisters with over-the-top performances just on the right side of panto. Wearing more polyester than a group of Olympic athletes, their ruthless desire for 15 minutes of fame and G-string loving, second hand drink swilling characters provide the biggest laughs and most memorable moments of this unashamedly feel-good glittering show.