Drifters’ songbook celebrated in new musical at Playhouse Theatre in Edinburgh

The stage show tells their story from the perspective of the manager Faye Treadwell from Arkansas who married George Treadwell, the manager of Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington.

He had signed the Drifters but died suddenly in 1967 and Faye took over buying out the other partners. It is her story from that point that the stage musical takes up based on a suggestion from her daughter Tina.

With writer Ed Curtis and producer Michael Harrison the story was formed, and the musical opened at the Theatre Royal Newcastle in October 2021 after a postponement due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Ed Curtis is well known in this area as he wrote Canned Laughter with Allan Stewart. Along with Grant Stott and the late Andy Gray they played Adam Smith Theatre Kirkcaldy in 2016 as part of a short Scottish tour.

Within a month they moved to the Garrick Theatre in the West End and gained two Olivier nominations. Award winning Carly Mercedes Dyer plays the part of Faye in Edinburgh with a talented cast of actors who bring to life the music legacy. Director Jonathan Church looks after the UK tour with the musical supervision and orchestration managed by Chris Egan for musical director Dustin Conrad and his impressive seven-piece live orchestra.

Drifters fans can expect note perfect renditions of how the great featured vocalists become real again with the everlasting hits like Hello Happiness, There Goes My First Love, Save The Last Dance For Me, Saturday Night At The Movies, There Goes My First Love, Kissing In The Back Row Of The Movies.