Cromer Pier Seaside Special: Show Two

RICHARD BATSON Pavilion Theatre, Cromer

RICHARD BATSON

The B side of the Cromer summer show is now playing – but be assured that Big Night Out is an A grade alternative to the opening On With the Show version.

It retains the same successful mix of comedy, spectacle, song and dance in grooves etched in the nostalgic vinyl rather than CD era.

But it adds some experimental tweaks – such as slicing sketches into musical chorus numbers – which add to the show's pace and slickness.

Highlights continue to be comic Tucker's saucy wit and natural warmth which win over the audience, and provide the ideal lifeboat for escaping first-night gremlins.

And the depth of Vicki Carr's singing ability shines in a show song medley which sees her working around three duettists in a clever café setting.

Nice staging too when paintings slide back to introduce ballerinas, from a six-strong dance troupe whose energy and harmonies add more than just a bit of hoofing to the show.

Aerial artist, Melissa Merran, who stole the first show with her “as seen on TV” red ribbon dangling, takes to the trapeze for an equally awe-inspiring display in show two.

Multi-instrumentalist Leo Shavers and singer David Lawrence add to the musical variety, which ranges from glitzy Putting on the Ritz and colourful Latino rhythms to a wild west sequence and psychedelic pop singalong.

A few sound wrinkles again dogged opening night, but failed to take the sheen off the show.

The perennial question of which show is best will be down to personal choice. Mine is show one, because of Melissa's ribbons, and the Annie and Old Bamboo routines. But A or B, heads or tails. Either way you win.