It's the decade that fashion forgot and an era that brought us some fantastic music. 80s Mania producer Vicky Holland-Bowyer tells Joanna Davis why the show remains such a huge draw.

GET the shoulder pads, blue eyeshadow and mullets out for an evening of total 80s immersion.

80s Mania is one of the UK's most enduring 80s tribute shows and it comes to Weymouth Pavilion next Thursday.

Show producer Vicky Holland-Bowyer, who also performs in the show, thinks 80s Mania has lasted 11 years because it has the wow factor.

She said: "There are a lot of 80s shows out there. We have a cast of 14 and it's a big show with a big projection screen and many props. The audience should prepare to be wowed - every three or six minutes we have different artists on. We say that it's like a combination of Top of the Pops and Live Aid."

80s Mania features 28 pop and rock artists, with performers donning identical costumes to the likes of Duran Duran, Adam Ant, Boy George, Soft Cell and Tony Hadley in their heyday.

"We have a full live band, a dance troupe, a projection video and we have more than 150 costumes," Vicky said.

And it's not only the performers in costume - the audience get in on the act too, Vicky said.

"So many of the people who come to 80s Mania dress up. Ours is the biggest 80s tribute show in Europe and we're going to be going in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running.

"Everyone sings and dances in the aisle - we encourage that. There was so much variety with the music in the 80s, we had the new Romantics, we do Adam Ant, Spandau Ballet - all acts that get the crowd going.

"The Wham tribute is always popular as is Cyndi Lauper. We always find the audience recognises the introduction and starts singing along straight away and they know all the words to things like Hungry Like the Wolf, Kids in America, they just love getting up and dancing."

This is the second time the show has visited Weymouth - a town Vicky is familiar with through childhood holidays.

She said the show attracts many groups of friends in its audience.

"We get school reunions and a lot of hen parties because a lot of people are getting married later in life. It's a really nice, happy, fun evening.

"Somebody who saw 80s Mania once said it should be prescribed on the NHS for a midlife crisis!

"It really is a great way of forgetting all your problems."

*80s Mania, Weymouth Pavilion, Thursday, August 15, 7.30pm. Contact the box office for tickets.