Becoming Nancy at Birmingham Rep Review

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Wed 02 Oct 2024 - Sat 02 Nov 2024

Birmingham Rep’s new musical Becoming Nancy is a heartwarming coming-of-age tale with fabulous characters and some great songs.

At its centre is teenager David Starr who is hoping to bag the part of Fagin in the school musical Oliver! but instead is offered Nancy. As a gay schoolboy, the thought of donning a dress and wig on stage is terrifying – it will put him at the mercy of the bullies and risk exposing him to ridicule.

So the question at the heart of the show is should David take the role and what does becoming Nancy really mean?



Wrapped around this, Becoming Nancy, written by Elliot Davis and directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, brings in themes of homophobia, bullying, racism, parental acceptance – and plenty of other elements of the teenage experience.

But while the subject matter may be heavy, it is treated with a light touch ensuring the show is full of humour.

Set in the 1970s against a backdrop of racism and the Rock Against Racism movement, the production is dripping with nostalgia. It’s not just in the costumes and attitudes, it’s in the small touches such as the plot of Coronation Street or David’s mum’s hedgehog of cheese and pineapple on sticks.

The production also plays with the music of the period not least when the three posters on David’s wall - of Sting, Debbie Harry and Kate Bush - come alive and begin to offer him advice.

Joseph Peacock gives a wonderful performance as David, a boy uncertain of who he loves, what it means and whether or not he should don the dress. We can’t help but warm to him - not least as he constantly turns to the audience to explain what he’s really feeling.

Paige Peddie plays his best friend Frances Bassey. She’s headstrong and brave – standing up to racist bullies and constantly urging David to take on life’s challenges. She also gives a breathtaking performance of the song Who I Am in which she stands firm in her belief in herself.

And then there’s new boy at the school Maxie Boswell, played by Joseph Vella. Initially, we see him as the sporting hero but is there more to Maxie’s offer to help David rehearse his part than initially meets the eye?

Mathew Craig gives us a conflicted Eddie, David’s Dad, a seventies man through and through who tells his son to turn down the role and struggles with any inference his son may be anything but straight. And Rebecca Trehearn the mother Kath who believes her son should take to the stage but struggles when she discovers he’s gay.

Genevieve Nicole is the super-supportive Aunt Val but it’s really her totally off-the-wall Kate Bush which is a stand-out performance.

Based on the book Becoming Nancy by Terry Ronald, the show premiered in Atlanta in 2019 but there have been adaptations for its UK premiere in Birmingham.



With songs written by George Stiles, Anthony Drewe, Elliot Davis and Terry Ronald the production has a soundtrack which can stand apart from the musical. There are lots of great feelgood tracks including 'Welcome to the Beat of My Heart,' 'I Don’t Care and Have You Ever Had A Love Like This?' but also some really contemplative numbers such as 'About Six Inches From Your Heart' in which David’s mum remembers carrying her son in her womb and 'Where Do We Go From Here? ' in which David’s parents respond to the discovery their son is gay.

Mitchell, who first conceived the idea of creating the musical after reading Ronald’s book and directing the first performances in America, ensures a show with all the ingredients for success. His choreography is also great fun, creating scenes in which footballers vie for space with drama students or taking us into a funky gay club in Brighton.

Jean Chan’s costumes are vibrant and varied – packed full of seventies fashion while also recreating the iconic images of the seventies pop stars.

David Rockwell and TJ Greenway’s sets and Dick Straker’s video designs take us from school discos to Brighton seafronts and into the Starr home complete with seventies décor and gadgets.

With its messages of acceptance and love conquering all, Becoming Nancy feels very much a part of the recent surge in contemporary musicals which tackle bigotry in a fun way such as Kinky Boots, which was also directed and choreographed by Mitchell, and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. The question now is whether it will go on to be as successful as those shows.

For more information and tickets see here.

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