Trapped inside The Next Big Thing, there's probably a great musical trying to get out. The story of wannabe front-man Mike West runs the gamut of musical history from the 1960s to Oasis but it never seems to really catch alight.
That's partly because all the songs are pastiches. While the 1970s, the New Romantics and Britpop's finest were surely built for satire, it's just not the same without the real thing. Even punk, where the lyrics were hardly the point, loses something when you don't recognise the larynx-busting screams.
Guitarist West, played by the endearing Jon-Paul Hevey, travels to Liverpool where he meets Zak Love (Jon Boydon) the first of many unscrupulous rock'n'roll stars to steal his limelight.
But, urged on by the spirit of his guitar (Melissa Lloyd), the eternally youthful West goes from band to band, trying to achieve immortality while being true to himself. It doesn't happen because, as he's told over and over, he doesn't have that star quality.
The trouble here is exactly that - West would never have been a frontman and, as such, he never quite feels as though he deserves his own show. Writers Mark Burton and Pete Sinclair have talent but music is a cruel world.
Until Dec 3, New Players Theatre, The Arches, Villiers Street WC2, Tue to Sat 7.45pm, Thu and Sat mats 3pm, £14.50 to £24.50, £12 to £22 concs. Tel: 0870 264 3333. www.seetickets.com Tube: Leicester Square
The Next Big Thing
