Saturday 15th July, 2023 at Leeds Playhouse.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In Dreams is a brand new musical which brings resilience, reconnection and love of life centre stage as rad country-rock chick Kenna brings friends old and new together for a celebration.
Kenna, once the lead in the now defunct band “Heartbreak Radio”, stumbles across a local place in New Mexico with Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) at the heart of its identity, and takes the quirky op to organise a party like no other. The vocal powerhouse that is Lena Hall is our charismatic lead, channelling all the energy of the classic leather-clad rebel thriving on going against the grain. The sheer power and depth and richness of her voice is the triumph of this show, but her performance as a woman on the run from reality is one of well-developed layers which blend wit and vulnerability to win hearts with ease.
The warm-hearted Oscar (Manuel Pacific) and Nicole (Gabriela García) run the venue with love and real sincerity when it comes to honouring the traditions of their culture and helping people to celebrate their loved ones. Pacific and García are a great pairing and the choir boy purity of Pacific’s rendition of “In Dreams” is a real highlight. Arnulfo Maldonado’s set designs for this all-important place of reconnection are beautiful, with its overhead fairy lights, colourful signage and homely table settings, while lighting from Howard Hudson, along with George Reeve’s video designs bring great ambience to exterior scenes.
Grandma Ana Sofia also brings great heart and wisdom and Alma Cuervo plays the role with a perfect twinkle and real matriarch gravitas – brought to full glory by the appearance of the suave and amorous George (Richard Trinder). Leon Craig’s Tom is a joyous source of energy as the die-hard super fan – and also has some killer vocals to boot.
The party guest list introduces some good fun in the shape of ex boyfriend and band mate Ramsey, with Oliver Tompsett gifting the production a rare prize: a love interest with cheeky, charming energy who has just the right measures of cock-sure confidence and clumsy comedy about him. Tompsett proves himself highly skilled in keeping this scamp on the right side of lovable and also provides the production with yet more gloriously rich and powerful pipes. Sian Reese-Williams and Noël Sullivan complete band “Heartbreak Radio” and again bring a lovely blend of comedy and vocal prowess as befuddled parents hanging by a thread who just happen to be able to lift rafters.
In Dreams is clearly lucky to have writer David West Read and director Luke Shepard at the helm. The duo provide depth for each character, which isn’t very often seen in musicals for obvious reasons. While Kenna may lead, we do get a strong sense of who the other characters are and perhaps most pleasing is the lack of sharply defined stock roles: some characters are funnier than others, but every character gets laughs and most get a moment or two of pathos, inviting plenty of investment in the lives we see – vital for a show with such a strong sense of sentiment and connection.
And while characters and plot are beautifully rendered, the gorgeous songs of Roy Orbison also offer a rare example of how known classics can be skilfully embedded within a brand new story: they’re not shoe-horned in with a knowing wink, they’re re-purposed as if they were written to tell the story of In Dreams (and some of the segues between scene and song are really top notch). The show features a generous 22 snippets and tracks, with top picks for me including Hall’s thrilling renditions of “Crying” and “Love Hurts”, Tompsett’s perfectly of comic and vocally stellar “I Drove All Night”, Alma Cuervo’s warm hug of a take on “Blue Bayou” and the thoroughly endearing sequence for “Oh, Pretty Woman” – oh, and “You Got It” is a nigh on perfect finale for this heartfelt new work.
This is a great new musical which marries playful comedy with gentle sentiment and glorious vocals throughout. With a superb cast, an endearing story at its centre and fantastic music leading the way – In Dreams is definitely well worth seeing.
In Dreams is at Leeds Playhouse until August 5th 2023 – more information and tickets can be found here.
Always Time For Theatre 