JADAR

★★★★★

Party Like Gatsby is an immersive, themed cabaret where guests must dress accordingly. Inspired by the The Great Gatsby, it started off as a student club night – and now it’s the world’s biggest 1920s experience. The event tours the world with a new show annually; the latest show is titled Grand Extravaganza – and, boy, is it grand!

An immersive cabaret, the show begins as soon as you enter the venue, with performers in the audience. There’s popcorn and candy floss (“cotton candy”, as the Yanks call it) on sale, as well as a photo op, which changes with each new production. This year’s photo op was a backdrop with a car frame which guests could sit behind. Last year’s photo op had guests sit on a crescent moon, whilst the event in 2020 had guests stand behind a desk with a retro telephone.

There was some great lighting during the show but this could have been utilised better during the pre-show, when guests danced to retro tunes (played by The Swing Bot) as if at a 1920s club. It would have created a more lively atmosphere.

The event officially commenced with compère Chastity Belt, returning from last year and recently appearing at the Northern premiere of La Clique in Manchester, welcoming the audience to the experience.

One of the best cabaret singers of all, the stage name “Chastity Belt” appears to acknowledge both her sex positivity and her vivacious vocals.

“I’m here to take you from A to C – perhaps D,” said the saucy singer.

Her opening set included a sensational cover of Sia’s ‘Chandelier’, an anthemic bop which captures the c’est la vie and carpe diem mindset of the debaucherous cabaret much better than the more obvious, but ironically pessimistic, ‘Life is a Cabaret’.

As always, there was a Charleston tutorial, this time led by non-binary dancer Rouge Ma Knees, who incorporated their own dazzling dance set in the tutorial. The audience mastered the art of the Charleston, with Rouge boasting that they’re a brilliant teacher.

The tour’s resident band, The Toons – one of the most-booked bands in the UK – had a few sets throughout the night. They covered some retro songs, such as Cara Emerald’s ‘A Night Like This’ and Ray Charles’ ‘Hit the Road Jack’.

However, most of their numbers were more recent songs, ranging from the more obvious and on-brand (Christina Aguilera’s ‘Express’ from Burlesque and Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mýa and P!nk’s recreation of Labelle’s ‘Lady Marmalade’ for Moulin Rouge!) to the unexpected (Founts of Wayne’s ‘Stacy’s Mom’).

But no matter the song, the band gave it a retro twist, perfectly blending the old and the new; the 1920s and the 2020s.

Lead singer Robyn Taylor is a little lady with a big voice. As I say in every review, she gives Xtina a run for her money with her runs, riffs, growls and shrieks. She covers the songstress’ iconic songs with ease. The audience got especially Xcited, Xstatic and X-rated (XXX) when Robyn reached Christina’s climaX of ‘Lady Marmalade’.

The Toons brought the theatrics to their headline set. During their cover of Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’, Robyn opened an umbrella full of petals, which graciously rained over her when she opened it. During ‘Express’, the four dancers (including Rouge) accompanied the band for a sex-tastic performance which surely got the Manchester audience (s)excited for the world premiere stage musical adaptation of Burlesque this summer!

As always, there was a burlesque performer: Felicity Furore. During her first number, a lot of not-so-gentle gentlemen had their phones out, determined to remember her sultry striptease forever. Felicity had some great costumes, especially that big-ass feathered hat.

Daisy Black delivered an entertaining hoop performance which got more ambitious as the set went on – and she mastered every single routine.

The Seifert Sisters performed a spine-tingling set on a pole, in which they balanced not only on and around the pole but also each other. Their strength is mind-blowing.

Snookie Mono’s sensational sword-swallowing was simultaneously seductive and scary.

There was also a couple with some pretty impressive strength when it came to lifting things – including each other!

The glamorous dancers, J’adore La Vie, had the audience falling in love with them.

Actors Lilou des Bois and Wolfgang Hemmingway helped break up the sets with their funny interactions with Chastity, but I wish they had been given more stage time – more time for us to get to know them and invest in their characters.

Wolfgang had appeared at the entrance, welcoming guests and asking us if we had seen Jay Gatsby, whose elusiveness became a running gag (at one point, Chastity was on the balcony and received a call from Gatsby on her “mobile telephone”).

Last year, Chastity had welcomed guests at the door, which felt more natural. Perhaps it would have been better if Wolfgang and Lilou had appeared at the door together, interacting with each other as well as the guests.

The show came to an end with the Toons covering Fergie, Q-Tip and GoonRock’s ‘A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got)’ from The Great Gatsby, with Chastity Belt on backing vocals and the entire cast dancing along.

Whilst it was great to hear Chastity’s soothing vocals once more at the end of the show, it would have been grand if she had performed throughout the show, rather than just at the top. In the two previous tours I have attended, Robyn had duetted with the host, which was a real hit with the audience.

Whilst previous shows were broken up into sets, allowing guests to mingle and dance in between, this year’s show ran straight through, which works better because the energy never dips – but it does make it difficult to find time to relieve yourself, especially if you’ve broken the seal…

Leah and I decided to nip to the loo towards the end of a song we were not too familiar with, but as soon as we reached the foyer, the Toons began playing Keala Settle’s ‘This is Me’ from The Greatest Showman, so we ran back in, and there were no more opportunities to go for a trickle because every performance was so spectacularly spellbinding!

Party Like Gatsby is, irrefutably, one of the world’s best cabarets, with some of the most incredible cabaret and circus acts out there. The 1920s theme and the immersive aspect make it even more fun.

This is not just a show. It’s not even just an event… It’s an experience.

Murder on the dancefloor? A little party never killed nobody!

Party Like Gatsby: Grand Extravaganza tours the UK until February 24, Europe from March 1 to April 12, and Canada from May 10 to 11. Its US counterpart, Party Like 1920s, tours from April 26 to May 18.

Photo: Dom Martin