REVIEW - Spend Spend Spend is an amazing all-northern experience - the perfect gift for musical theatre lovers!

On Thursday, we were invited to the Royal Exchange, Manchester to watch Spend Spend Spend. Read what our reviewer Abi Holden thought about the venue's main production for this festive season...

Spend, Spend, Spend has landed in Manchester at the wonderful Royal Exchange Theatre and, my goodness, what a treat! Going into this, I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew the basic plot, and had heard really good things about it, and I definitely wasn’t disappointed. The atmosphere in the theatre before the show started was electric, with everyone clearly excited to see what was about to unfold on the stage, and that buzz lasted throughout the whole performance.

The show tells of the tale of Viv Nicholson, a working class lass from Castleford in Yorkshire, who, alongside her husband, won the Pools on the football, which made them rich. It is told from the point of view of Viv (Rachel Leskovac; Waterloo Road, Coronation Street) later on in life, who is working as a beautician and reflecting on everything that happened to one of her clients, Mrs Waterman (Rebecca Thornhill; Singin’ in the Rain, Gypsy). She starts at the beginning. At age sixteen, she is working as an ice-cream girl at the cinema and is not short of male attention. She is not allowed to date, however, as her alcoholic father, George (Joe Alessi; Grenfell in the Words of Survivors, The Wicker Husband), who works in the mines, forbids her to do so. After a particularly bad night, with her abusive father berating her and dreaming of her perfect man, Johnny Love (Lejaun Sheppard; 42 Balloons, Come From Away), she decides that she is going to contact one of the boys that has written her notes at work, Matt (George Crawford; The Book of Mormon, Waitress the Musical). They make love and she becomes pregnant and before she knows it, she is getting married to him. In an unhappy and unwanted marriage, with a new baby, young Viv (Rose Galbraith; Cruel Intentions, High Society) finds herself falling for the boy next door, Keith (Alex James-Hatton; Bonnie & Clyde, Heathers the Musical), who seems to return her affections. They begin an affair, after seeing each other at a dance, causing Viv to divorce Matt in favour of a relationship with Keith. They get married and have children, only for them to be struggling due to Keith’s pitiful wages from the coal mines. However, they are about to blow their last two pounds on a night out at the pub, when Keith decides to check the football scores, for his Pools results. They win big-time - nearly 3 million pounds in today’s money - and begin to spend like they never have before.

The second half of the show begins with the winners returning to Castleford and finding they no longer fit into a community that barely makes ends meet and decide to move ten miles away to the idyllic Garforth. However, when they move there, they find they don’t fit there either, due to their neighbours thinking they are too rough to be living in the area. To fit in, they throw lavish parties almost every night and use their money to bring their new neighbours around. Keith has a dance with one of their neighbours, making Viv angry and she asks to go away, so they go to America, where they do nothing but spend their money and drink. When they get back, Keith buys a canary and cares for it unbelievably well and the pair’s dwindling marriage is reignited. One day, they both go their separate ways in their flash cars, to run errands, when they both get into separate accidents. Where Viv comes out of hers unscathed, Keith does not and he dies. In his will, the money is left inaccessible to Viv and she has to go to court to retrieve what she believes she is entitled to. During this time, she remarries, again, but ends up divorced due to him being abusive. Once she gains the money she is owed, she opens a shop, which fails, and has a plethora of husbands - only missing out on Henry VIII’s tally of spouses by one. After her fifth husband dies of an overdose, she focuses on herself and her children for a while, before meeting someone new. The new man does not like that she has lied about her age or name to him and runs out on her. She is then visited by the Jehovah’s Witnesses and finds her purpose in life being a member of their congregation and making money as a beautician.

I was absolutely in awe of the whole production - the cast, the lighting, the set… The unique set-up of the Royal Exchange Theatre, with it being a theatre in the round, really made it. You feel so close to the action, no matter where you are sitting, that you can’t help being totally immersed in the action that is happening on stage. The ever-present silver streamers that hung from the rafters of the stage brought glitz to what, at times, was a heart-breaking tale. And the lighting - pinpointing the ever-present older version of Viv as she told her tale - was simply beautiful.

Rachel Leskovac is an absolute powerhouse. Her energy and vocals are beautiful and her characterisation of a woman who has seen it all really draws you into the story. From the start of the play, to the end, she is almost on stage for the whole time. Her stamina is definitely to be admired. She embodies the Castleford lass to perfection. Her younger counterpart, Rose Galbraith brings the youth and cheekiness to Viv’s earlier years and amazed the audience with the way she plays comedy and tragedy within seconds of each other perfectly. The pair together make Viv spring to life and I loved them. Playing older and younger versions of the same person can be difficult but they seem to manage it effortlessly.

Alex James-Hatton shows the growth of Keith, from a sixteen year-old, to an adult being beaten down by his work, to a big spender, with the utmost precision. His vocals were marvellous and I absolutely loved the way he moved through Keith’s emotions so delicately and beautifully. George Crawford as Matt and a member of the ensemble didn’t miss a beat throughout the whole performance. He played all 4 of Viv’s other husbands, playing husbands three to five in succession, seamlessly. His comic timing was brilliant. Lejaun Sheppard as Johnny Love dazzled with his smooth vocals and his quirky angel-wings. He had so much energy throughout the whole show.

Rebecca Thornhill as Viv’z mother, as well as the illustrious and pompous Mrs Waterman, was really funny. I loved her characterization as Liz, from the anger to trying to placate her drunken husband, but still encapsulated the strength of a no-nonsense northern woman. Joe Alessi as George was brilliant. His drunken antics and treatment of his daughter made you hate him for the way he was treating his daughter and wife. And his spot as Bruce Forsyth was simply uncanny. He embodied the show-biz star so well.

The ensemble played so many different parts that I lost count. The brilliantly talented ensemble was made up of: Jamil Abbasi (101 Dalmatians, The Great British Bake Off the musical); Abigail Brodie (The Addams Family, Guys and Dolls); Ayesha Maynard (Hairspray, Avenue Q); Rachel Moran (&Juliet, Matilda); Alfie Parker (School of Rock, Sister Act); and Karen Wilkinson (Guys and Dolls, Betty Blue Eyes). A particular stand out moment, for me, was Alfie Parker, when he was playing the Bank Manager. The exchange he had with Viv on the phone was clever and so funny that I had to hold back my laughter so I didn’t make too much noise.

The show is tongue-in-cheek, hilarious, and heartbreaking all at the same time. The cast work together so unbelievably well. Headed by the wonderful musical director Livi van Warmelo (Fiddler on the Roof, Little Shop of Horrors), the band brought the most phenomenal live music which really topped off the whole experience, as an audience member.

Spend, Spend, Spend is at the Royal Exchange Theatre until 11th January 2025 and I urge you to go and see it over the festive period. It would make the perfect gift for a musical lover! It truly is an amazing all-northern experience that you cannot miss.

WE SCORE SPEND SPEND SPEND...

Spend Spend Spend is on at the Royal Exchange, Manchester until Saturday 11th January 2025.


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Watch our "In Conversation with Rebecca Thornhill" video here!

Photo credits - Helen Murray