Coronation Street musical - Street Of Dreams review

We're huge 'Corrie' fans here at Yahoo! TV so we wanted to love the new musical based on the ITV soap, but unfortunately it's a bit of a tram crash.
 
'Street Of Dreams' (Manchester MEN Arena), which has been four years in the making, is clearly a labour of love - created by long-time fans of the show for long-time fans of the show - but it's too much of a mish-mash of styles to work as a whole.

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We start off in full-on panto mode with the ever-funny Paul O'Grady (the show's narrator) strolling down an impressive recreation of the famous cobbles cracking jokes about Simon Cowell's sex life. The camp factor is upped significantly with the celestial appearance of current 'Coronation Street' star Katy Cavanagh, who plays The Angel Of The North in the new stage show. The Angel tells Paul that she can fulfill his lifetime wish and transport him back in time to see his favourite 'Corrie' moments, setting up a plot device that the chatshow host knowingly jokes is rather flimsy.
 
The audience is then taken on a journey through some of the most memorable moments from Weatherfield's 50 year history - there's the untimely death of Martha Longhurst, Hilda and Stan's night in a dead posh hotel and Ena Sharple's still hysterical trip to the corner shop taken from the very first episode ("I said NO éclairs!"). Classic clips on the big screen accompany musical reinterpretations which range from the poignant to the hysterical.
 
Some of the musical numbers work much better than others. Kym Marsh and an outstanding Jodie Prenger bring two eras of Elsie Tanner to life in the memorable 'He's My Man' and 'I know How It Feels', while one of the biggest reactions of the night is saved for Bet Lynch's 'Nowt A Bit Of Lippy Couldn't Solve', which as the titles suggests is as camp as old knickers. However, that same camp-o-meter is tipped too far with Sean Tully's dreams of giving up stitching gussets in the OTT 'Sweet Butterfly' - which ends with him transforming into a butterfly and flying across the arena. No, really.

Highlights include 2010's tram crash, which is pulled off brilliantly with a hugely dramatic operatic rendering from the fantastic ensemble cast. However, the standout moment is Richard Hillman's brilliant 'Norman Bates With A Briefcase', which re-imagines Weatherfield's favourite serial killer as the Hitchcock nutjob, complete with suitably black and white clips of a trembling Gail on the big screen. A show full of clever numbers like this would run for years.
 
Brian Capron, who played Richard Hillman in the soap, is one of several of the original stars who have reprised their roles for the stage show and of those it's Julie Goodyear who brings the house down as the iconic Bet Lynch, though sadly she's only on stage for a couple of minutes.
 
The show ends with tenor Russell Watson joining the cast for the rousing 'Ghosts - Take My Hand', he's a big hit with the crowd but it's another jarring stylistic leap.
 
The decision to stage the show in huge arenas is unfortunate as it feels a bit lost in the huge venue and it also means that most of the audience have to watch the action on screens. You can't help but feel the show would have been much more at home touring regional theatres around the UK, similar to Jonathan Harvey's excellent 'Corrie' play last year.
 
There is much for 'Coronation Street' fans to like here and 'Street Of Dreams' may one day be a great musical but for now it feels like a work in progress.
 
You can see 'Street Of Dreams' at the O2 Arena in Dublin on 18 and 19 May, Odyssey Arena in Belfast on 21 and 22 May and Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle on 29 and 30 May. Further details and tickets are available at www.streetofdreams.co.uk .