If there was ever a group whose songs shouldn't be tampered with, it's The Smiths. One is the arrival of the mobile chippy to the strains of "The Ride of the Valkyries", accompanied by a clutch of fish-hungry war-maidens - a brilliant stroke.A six-piece band above the stage plays original music, borrowing from the sound-world of the early Kinks and the beginnings of The Who, bringing back nostalgic memories of teenage dreams and misspent youth.To 6 August (0161-833 9833). Although Ellie has got out of the frying-pan, she's soon back in the fire, reunited with her awful husband.The story may be a bit flimsy, and the characterisation broad, but there are extremely funny moments in this show. But their starchy mother's motto "'I want' doesn't get" isn't as much the deterrent to her dreams as is the engagement she is more or less forced into by the staid local fish-and-chip-shop proprietor. He regards the ring as a "tag" on his fianc?and visualises her not poring over books but pouring tea from a hostess trolley.As Ellie is lifted into her wedding dress - as if it were a straitjacket - the sisters reveal their reasons for needing to be married.
This is the north, after all, where a rigid and superficial moral code dictated people's lives.Into this slightly sentimental saga is woven the rise of The Ice Cubes straight to No 7 in the charts (with words by Ellie), and from the scudding clouds and chimney stacks of Eccles, we're parachuted into the swirling society of psychedelic London. Arden is set on sex and marriage, while Ellie wants to go to university. Under Jonathan Moore's capable direction, Sex, Chips & Rock'n'Roll is decently dramatised, neatly choreographed, well sung and a lot of fun. Arden (Elaine Glover) is the wild one - "going past Crewe and Macclesfield, all the way to Piccadilly" in her teenage passions - while Ellie (Emma Williams) is more romantically inclined. Co-written by Horsfield and the former Flying Picket Hereward Kaye, it's presented successfully in the round. Debbie Horsfield's TV series, which told the story of the twin sisters Arden and Ellie Brookes, whose lives were rocked and whose hearts were melted by the rock trio The Ice Cubes, has been turned into a stage musical. Ray Bennett, of The Hollywood Reporter, described it as "the most irresistible show in ages".Elton John's public relations representative, Gary Farrow, shrugged off criticism from The New Yorker.He said: "Mr Lahr is entitled to his opinion, but he is the only one so we do not care.
It is not representative of the reviews we have had which have described it as the greatest musical ever.". Like its title, this show sizzles. It's mid-Sixties Manchester, where you can barely speak the words "sex" or "rock'n'roll" without offending the stultifying, pseudo-genteel sensibilities of people who refer to the chippy as a "frying outlet". is somehow alien to the ironic British spirit."Whereas the American musical is the expression of a land of plenty, England is a land of scarcity - "the Land of No". The "narrative vulgarities" have been overlooked, he says, in favour of capturing the audience's imagination. It has been hailed as the best musical ever, and had British critics raving over the "exhilarating" and "terrific" performances.