Globe columnist Peter Grant looks forward to looking back... as the new feel good musical - Club Tropicana comes to the Liverpool Empire.

GET out the shoulder pads and the sun-tan cream.

Time to whet your appetite for crazy cocktails by the poolside.

And get ready to dance the light fantastic.

Summer's here.

The producers of Hairspray are on the road with a show packed with nostalgia from the 80s decade.

Club Tropicana is a sparkling new 80s musical with a star- studded cast including one famous Wirral Grammar schoolgirl - Kate Robbins.

Kate is famous for her own television and pop career.

She is also a first cousin of Paul McCartney.

Kate is from a large show biz family -including comedian brother Ted.

In the new hit-packed musical set in a Spanish hotel resort, called The Club Tropicana she plays housekeeper Consuela. In the course of the show, she brings her incredible impersonation skills to the fore.

"It's a chance to show off and for people to get out and have a laugh,"says the 60 year-old former Crossroads star.

Kate is no stranger to chart success herself she had a major chart hit with the song More Than in Love.

The one-ime Spitting Image star treats audiences to uncanny take-offs of 80s figures from Cilla Black to Margaret Thatcher.

Joining Kate on the tour is a 'who's who' from the TV and pop worlds.

Joe McElderry plays a cheerful camp entertainment manager called Gary.

Joe is a one-time X Factor winner and has starred in Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat.

Former Sugababes star Amelle Berrabah adds her stunning vocals as Sernea the hotel manager in a production that boasts 20 of the greatest hits of the 80s from Culture Club to Depeche Mode.

The soundtrack also features Relax from Liverpool's Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, ABC's Look of Love and Yazoo's Only You.

As well as first class choreography from Nick Winston and live versions of 80s songs there is much comedy from a jilted fiance meeting up with his ex by accident and the arrival of a hotel inspector.

Curiously Wham's song Club Tropicana isn't featured due to the producers being unable to secure the rights.

But the 20 songs from the 80s catalogue performed will certainly take audiences back to the care-free atmosphere of this sunniest of periods.

A spokesman for the show told the Globe: "It's an invite to take a trip back to the electric 80s and a time when hair was big, shoulders were padded and mobile phones weighed a tonne."

Forget Love Island Club Tropicana is the place to be.

Club Tropicana - The Musical at Liverpool Empire from July 1 until July 6.

For tickets call the box office on 0844871 3017.