Review: Freaky Friday (HOME Manchester)

Review by Jack McCabe

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Manchester welcomes the UK premiere of Disney’s Freaky Friday, a coming-of-age tale built on perspective and empathy. Bursting with heart, mayhem and charm, it feels perfectly at home. I had never read the 1972 novel by Mary Rodgers, nor had I seen any of the Disney films on which this musical is based so I was going into this production relatively blind. Having said that, the premise was clear enough: a mother and daughter swap bodies and are forced to live each other’s lives for a day. My understanding is that, whilst the basic premise of the story is the same, there are a number of changes from the previous iterations in order to both modernise and adapt it to the structure of a comedy musical.

This production has an impressive creative team behind it, reuniting producer Paul Taylor-Mills and director Andy Fickman, both responsible for the success of Heathers, with the latter responsible for bringing it from the screen to the stage. With a book by Bridget Carpenter, and a score from the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning duo, Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, there was much reason to be excited for this production. Kitt and Yorkey are best known for writing the score to Next to Normal and I was eager to see if they could replicate such an extraordinary piece of work. To add to that roster, the production was choreographed by Alexzandra Sarmiento, who recently wowed audiences with her choreography of 42 balloons.

An important thing to note about this show is the pace: It is fast and somewhat crammed into a run-time of just under two hours. The show barely seems to have begun when the body swap occurs via the breaking of a magical hourglass and there is no explanation as to why that accident caused the mother and daughter to switch. It also did not allow the audience to learn a huge amount about the lead characters to enable us to then utilise that knowledge as the show progresses.

One of the other consequences of the pace is that there was no opportunity to learn much about the characters beyond their broad stereotypes. It may be inevitable that a show set partly in a school features familiar archetypes – the popular girl, the nerd, the swoon-worthy boy - but this production seemed to lean into these reductionist portrayals in a way that, at times, felt slightly dated.

Now on to the first thing which makes this show so enjoyable, and that is the cast. Jena Pandya is the star of this show, thanks to her nuanced, funny and moving turn as Ellie. A truly brilliant performer with a wonderful voice who is able to showcase striking chemistry with whoever she shares the stage with.  Rebecca Lock handles the role of Ellie’s mother, Katherine, with all the skill and talent she is known for, though transitioning between the two very different personas is a challenge, and, at times, her precision seemed overshadowed by Pandya’s brilliance. Ghaith Saleh is delightful as Fletcher, Ellie’s little brother. A wonderful young actor who gives a performance as endearing as it is funny. As well as the leads, this cast boasts a strong ensemble who all perform excellently including Katharine Pearson’s excellent performance as Ms Meyers and Waylon Jacob’s ability to play what seemed to be an endless number of characters.

It won’t be a surprise to hear that the songs from Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey are wonderful - so well fitted to this story and brilliantly catchy. Highlights included ‘I Got This’, ‘Busted’ and ‘Somebody Has Got To Take The Blame’ as well as a personal favourite ‘Women and Sandwiches’. The upbeat music has been clearly influenced by pop-rock, perfectly matching the energy of the show. The score balances humour and heart and perfectly captures the themes of teenage mayhem and the stresses of adult life. The sound design by Alistair Penman, alongside the lighting by Nick Richings, is faultless. It complements a wonderfully colourful and vibrant set together with well-chosen costumes, both designed by David Shields. 

Strong choreography by the aforementioned Alexzandra Sarmiento, together with Sam Wilson-Freeman, proved particularly enjoyable, with one highlight a standout number set in a P.E lesson, with inspired choices that drew huge amounts of laughter from the audience. That particular song was a masterclass in musical comedy with a focus on physicality and timing. 

Overall, Freaky Friday is an entertaining musical that, despite its flaws, delivers belly laughs and moving moments. Whilst the story may feel a little rushed at times, the production’s charm and humour make it an enjoyable evening, and a UK premiere that Manchester should be proud to host. It proves that if you truly wish to understand another person, you should forget about walking a mile in their shoes and try living in their body instead.

Freaky Friday plays at HOME Manchester until 10th January. Tickets from https://homemcr.org/whats-on/freaky-friday-yhdl

Photos by Mark Senior