With the success of the Women's World Cup and the raising profile of Women's football, Diamond are committed to helping with this, but we didn't expect our Pro Trainers and Club Mannequins to be making an appearance on the West End :-) Our products have made an appearance in the musical Bend it Like Beckham (see pictures below).
Based on the 2002 film Bend it Like Beckham, director of the original film - Gurinder Chadha - has brought it back as a feel-good British musical comedy at the Phoenix Theatre in London.
Synopsis
Jess - played by Natalie Dew - is conflicted between the traditional lifestyle her parents want for her of university, a career and marriage and her dream of following in the footsteps of her idol David Beckham. The talented teenager is spotted playing football in Southall and finds herself facing a world of life changing opportunities. Can she find a way to keep her family happy and still follow her dreams?
Reviews
"You don't need to have seen the film - and if you have, you don't need to have liked it that much. You need be no fanatic about football or that bothered about Becks, whose ability to 'bend' a ball past a line of defenders gives the show its memorable title. All that's required is to watch what unfolds with an open mind and prepare to be transported and uplifted in a way that few British musicals manage to achieve." - Dominic Cavendish, The Daily Telegraph
"This is the most irresistibly joyous musical-theatre make-over of a much-loved movie since Billy Elliot. It does more for genuine Girl Power in the span of an evening than an eternity of Viva Forever! (the short lived Spice Girls juke-box venture) could have achieved." - Paul Taylor, The Independent
"It is about the shifting shape of British multiculturalism, the bending of attitudes from one generation to the next as well as teenage sexuality and gender bias. It is also one of the sunniest, funniest musicals I have seen in many a year. It shoots. It scores." - Neil Norman, Daily Express
Director of the film and musical adaptation Gurinder Chadha - who can be seen in the image to the left - has stated "Our ambition, is to create a totally new British musical, with a different musical language. A musical that speaks to us of today, the last 30, 40 years of Britain and of where we are as a nation." The musical production began in May 2015, shortly before the Women's World Cup kicked off. It was the most successful Women's World cup and the England Women's Team were able to break all records and came third place overall.
Picture 1 - Bend it Like Beckham cast holding a Diamond Pro Trainer Football
Picture 2 - Director Gurinder Chadha surrounded by Diamond Football Mannequins
