Musicals on UAE stage

Smackee to recreate hit Broadway and West End shows

Audiences in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are in for a treat next week when the unusually named Smackee entertains them.

Following their successful April visit in the capital, Barry Walker, Dawn Glenville and Margaret Barnes will recreate the musicals of Broadway and London's West End with their Show of Shows, which will be held at The Club, Abu Dhabi, on October 29 and at The Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai, on November 1.

The group will also perform in Muscat at The Crowne Plaza on October 30. Smackee claims to be Europe's number one show group. For theatre lovers, Show of Shows promises to be two hours of dazzling entertainment.

All the performers have fun on stage, especially during their favourites – Les Miserables, Miss Saigon and Grease – when they become actors too. The performance will include songs from Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Aspects of Love, Evita, Sunset Boulevard, Miss Saigon and Grease as well as new material from Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Chess and Cats.

The group makes, alters and purchases all their costumes, rehearses while on tour and works on new songs and routines in Walker's studio in Birmingham. Currently, Glenville, a trained singer and dancer from the age of seven, is perfecting perennial favourites from Doris Day's movie, Calamity Jane. The group has been together for many years.

Walker (vocalist and keyboard) is the driving force. First appearing on stage at the age of ten, his career progressed from Irish show bands to showbiz backing musician, and became the founder of Smackee. Originally supporting others, Smackee developed into a show in its own right across Europe.

Despite there being few musicals not in their repertoire, the final content of the show is not decided until about an hour before the curtains go up. For some groups, this could be disastrous, but for Smackee, it brings freshness and vitality to their performance.

Perhaps their rapport is intuitive because Walker and Glenville are married and backing musicians Tom Mullins (bass guitar) and Rob McKenzie (guitar) have been with the group from its beginning.

McKenzie is also the son of their long-standing manager, Scott McKenzie, from whose name Smackee is derived.

The "babies" of the group, Barnes (vocalist and dancer) and Keith Liddle (guitar and keyboard) joined in the 1990s.

During this trip, the group is hoping to take more time exploring the capital. Simon McDonald of SIAN Dubai, which is promoting the show, said, "Barry and Dawn are mad about golf. It's difficult to keep them off the fairways in their free time. It used to be horses, but it's easier to travel with clubs."

Tickets for the show are priced Dh100 and are available at The Club, Abu Dhabi, Disco 2000 and The Jumeirah Beach Hotel theatre, Dubai.