By SHELLEY HOWELLS
Boob tubes, glitter balls, Kung Fu Fighting, Shaft, Wonder Woman, Grease - even chopper bikes get their moment in the 70s spotlight in this dazzling musical theatre production.
That funky music - from Celebration to Blame it on the Boogie, the Happy Days theme to Maggie May (scary how
many you know word-for-word) - keeps coming at you, belted out by a seriously talented, vibrant cast and a cracking live band.
The five-year-old British show features members of the London cast (including leads Mark Jones and Jo Redburn) as well as our own disco queen Tina Cross and singer Grant Bridger.
The disco inferno starts even as the audience is getting seated, with DJ Dean (Stephen Dean, glam in tight white flares) on stage already, rolling out the hits and setting the 70s scene.
The story (nothing to do with the movie of the same name, although kinky things are done with a Star Wars light sabre), is set in and around the Boogie Nights disco and follows the lives of young loves Roddy, a wannabe rock star with a roving eye, and Debs, his long-suffering girlfriend.
Cross, as club singer Lorraine, is where Roddy's eye briefly settles, and Bridger is his Irish alcoholic dad with an Elvis fixation and serious navel-fluff issues.
Think EastEnders in a disco. On speed.
Jones is charismatic, teasing and heckling the audience in a very Robbie Williams way, and Redburn is superb, delivering a showstopping I Will Survive.
Cross looks and sounds sensational and Jane Doyle is perfect as Debs' goofy sidekick Trish who, with Simon Coulthard as nerdy Terry, provides much of the broad comedy.
Highlights like an over-the-top version of YMCA had the audience simultaneously heaving with laughter, stomping feet and, yes, doing all the arm movements. Blame it on the boogie.
The boogie wonderland whirls from one huge all-singing, all-dancing number to another, pausing for a quick shove-along for the plot and a handful of double entendres, before the frenetic pace steps up again.
Infectious, escapist, delightful nonsense that will appeal to anyone with tongue poked firmly in cheek, or cheeks poked firmly into flares.
