**** 4 STARS!
Genuinely new musicals are so rare these days that I rushed to the premiere of this celebration of bhangra: a form that, deriving from Punjabi dance, has now been fused with rap, reggae and much else to achieve chart success. Even if the book needs some tweaking, Sumeet Chopra’s score is a delight that brings the audience to its feet and introduces a new sound into the stale world of the British musical.
Conceived, written and directed by Pravesh Kumar, the show follows the fortunes of Indian immigrant Twinkle in the changing Britain of the past 30 years. Starting out as a Southall bus driver in the chill Thatcherite era, Twinkle soon turns into a little star with his singing at local weddings. He and his musical mate Rocky are snapped up by a producer, Mrs Shindie, who realises that bhangra means big bucks. But Twinkle’s fortunes fade as Rocky dies, he is ripped off by his producer and his songs remixed by a loutish DJ. This being a musical, however, everything has a happy, fairytale ending.
More could have been made of the shifting British backdrop, and the second half, in which a teenage boy comes in search of his missing father, has a derivative feel. But the score, ranging from traditional bhangra to Bollywood and hip-hop, is dance-based, energising and mercifully free of the soulful wailing of so much western pop. It is also smartly executed and vividly performed by the on-stage band, making use of the dhol drums (while lifting you out of them). The lean and wiry Shin, a longtime bhangra star, shines as Twinkle, and there is strong support from Sophiya Haque as the ruthless Shindie, and from Rina Fatania as Twinkle’s mum. Not for the first time, Stratford East has given the British musical the kind of blood transfusion it urgently needs.
Until 16 May. Box office: 020-8534 0310. Then touring.
To see this review, click here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/apr/29/britains-got-bhangra-review
