Girlz is a musical that returns to Edinburgh after a run last year, that charts the success of a new British girl band and, along with it, the issues that fame can bring. As a big fan of all things girl bands and pop, this sounded right up my street, so I was excited to check it out.
Within the show we meet the 5 members of the band at their audition. We meet Nicky (Meggie Hughes), who has a boyfriend at home who is also trying to break into the music industry; Alex (Tamara Tare), who has an issue with pills and a self-esteem problem; Jaz (Zoe Antoniou), who is the baby of the group; Kim (Daniella Mirels), who has been there and done this all before with a different group; and finally Charlie (Abigail Wiltshire), who is unsure as to how public she should be about her sexuality. The focus is on their relationships and their personal struggles, along with their fractious relationship with their manager.
Whilst the Edinburgh production is an abridged version of the show, the book by Daf Hughes feels incredibly rushed and it is difficult to tell if this could be overcome by the increased playing time. The band are successful overnight and there is very little build-up of the band’s various relationships, becoming very comfortable with each other almost instantly. Equally, some plot points come out of virtually nowhere which, combined, makes it hard for me to invest in the relationships or the band’s success. Equally, the band’s manager, Dan Cashman, veers so far into a stereotypical villain cliché that it is hard to invest in that dynamic also, meaning there is no common enemy for the band and the audience to root for their comeuppance.
The music is a little more successful, with some of the songs being fun and others giving some of the band members higher stakes for a few moments. The show is a mixture of the band’s performances and then behind-the-scenes moments, and the contrast between their performance songs and the more introspective moments was well considered.
The performances are strong across the board and, in particular, when the Girlz are singing in harmonies, their vocals all blend beautifully together. They are strong performers across the board, with the band also required to do a large amount of choreography for their audition and on-stage performances.
The set was simple, with projections, a couple of portable screens and blocks making up most of the set, and this was an effective way to transition scenes quickly whilst still giving us an idea as to location. It would have been beneficial, however, to have given more consideration to the performance costumes of the band. For a band who are supposed to be at the top of their game, the costumes looked thrown together cheaply. Whilst I appreciate price is a limiting factor at the Fringe, this is not a suggestion that the costumes have to be expensive, but potentially more imaginative with the limited budget.
Girlz has all the ingredients of something that I should have loved, with girl bands, pop music and five women whose individual stories have the potential to be really interesting. Unfortunately, the rushed nature of the storytelling means that I never felt sufficiently invested in either the characters or their success. There is clearly talent within the cast and some enjoyable music, but I left feeling that the band themselves needed more time to develop before I could really care about their journey.
Girls is on at Gilded Balloon Patter House at 14:25-15:30 each day. You can book tickets and find out more here.
If you like this review you might also like my review of Bliss, Apparently Ugly and Girlhood in the Bathroom.