A brand new musical to hit London, Miss Atomic Bomb is set in 1952 Las Vegas and is about nuclear blasts and beauty queens – but does it win approval with critics?
The Guardian: ** Lyn Gardner spots its potential but: “the show goes for a 1950s screwball comedy style and misses it not just by a mile but by an entire exclusion zone.”
The Daily Mail:** Patrick Marmion wrote: “The cast strive to make it work, but they need more conventional weapons – and a plot capable of causing tremors.”
WhatsOnStage: **Michael Coveney described the production as: “strenuous, efficient, well drilled and designed – and curiously flat, unfunny and flair-free.”
The Independent: ** Holly Williams said: “a genuinely astonishing, and troubling, historical moment, a richer source of fascination than this thin fare really knows what to do with.”
Gay Times: **** Benjamin McDonald was enthusiastic saying: “it’s clear to see that the original British musical the West End has been waiting for is emerging from the mushroom cloud of an atomic blast on stage in the St James Theatre.”
West End Frame: **** “Miss Atomic Bomb is good fun and works well as a quirky off-West End musical.”
Theatre Cat.com: *** “It’s brash, brutal, blackly comic, and noisy.”
Time Out: ** Andrzej Lukowski thought that: “With major reworking this could maybe work, but for now ‘Miss Atomic Bomb’ is a very damp squib.”
There Ought to be Clowns: “the show feels fundamentally flawed in really not knowing what it wants to be.”
The Telegraph: *** Dominic Cavendish said: “even though it’s overlong, I have to confess to experiencing a steady rumble of grudging admiration that often erupted into outright laughter.”
Overall Verdict: it has potential but needs plenty of work done to it to make it successful.
Miss Atomic Bomb runs at the St James Theatre until the 9th April. To book tickets visit: Discount Theatre.com, Theatre Tickets Direct.co.uk, Love Theatre.com, Theatre People.com and UK Tickets.co.uk.