REVIEW: ABBA Voyage @ Abba Arena, London

 

**THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS**

Well what a year it has been for ABBA fans. The Swedish super-group who once vowed they would never reunite have burst back on the scene after 40 years with a brand new album and a state of the art digital concert.  And they once again have shown the world that Class not Speed is their byword.

The virtual concert experience was first mooted in 2016 and fans speculated that perhaps a new song might follow.  The project took longer than anyone predicted as brand new technology was employed - via George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic - to bring a 1970s version of ABBA back to life.  Last year Agnetha, Benny, Bjorn and Frida gathered in a Stockholm studio dressed in motion capture suits to 'perform' the new concert in full over 5 weeks, with 160 cameras capturing their every movement.  These images were sent to the technical bods who have used them as the basis for re-imagining the 1970s ABBA.  On the back of this,  a brand new album Voyage was released,  the first new music from ABBA in 40 years.  

Whenever ABBA put their name to something it has to be artistically fulfilling. The original songs all those years ago were perfectly crafted nuggets of pop which, it can be argued, have never been bettered.  Then in 1999 Mamma Mia set the standard for all future jukebox musicals and has gone on to become one of the biggest theatrical and movie franchises ever.  Now, they are blazing a trail yet again by inviting us to 1979 and the concert we have all longed for.

As you enter the purpose built ABBA Arena there is a sense of a community.  It is more of a convention than a show. This band mean so much to so many. 3000 people wait expectently for the Arrival.  As the ABBA-tars rise up onto the stage in silhouette, a roar of approval goes up.  But then the lights are on them.  What?  How?  The illusion has to be seen to be appreciated. Seemingly physically before us are Agentha, Bjorn, Benny and Anni-frid.  But in their legendary 1970s form.  If we were closer we are sure they would shake us by the hand.  It is breathtaking in its beauty and genius.  As the girls voices blend into one making those iconic harmonies,  the audience are transported on a wave of magical light to the concert of their dreams.

 

The power of the music is provided by a 7 piece band - with three backing singers - which take the roof of the building in both volume and viruosity.  Recreating the ABBA sound in a live environment is not easy and their musicianship is a large part of the show's brilliance.

Director Baillie Walsh has worked out that a 90 minute show with just four figures singing might be pushing the concept a little far,  so into the mix has been added an artists palate of light and animation - each element fusing with the music and the ABBA-tars to create an immersive arena of images and concepts. Such is the way the shows visual elements are employed that it is neccessary to see the show more than once to appreciate just what is going on at various points in the auditorium.

It is the ultimate nostalgia experience, coupled with state of the art technology.  As my friend said to me, ABBA Voyage is a (name of the) game changer.   Despite all the technology the biggest thrill is hearing songs such as 'Dancing Queen',  'Waterloo',  'Mamma Mia' and even a couple of unexpected album delights transfix the audience. At times it becomes a huge singalong.  This is not just music.  It is the soundtrack to so many lives.  For many a reminder of a simpler, happier time.  The brilliant songwriting of Ulvaeus and Andersson able to transport us to emotions and feelings that only the very best compositions can realise.  A pop orgasm.

If this is ABBA's swansong to the world,  they couldn't have chosen a better memorial.  It salutes the past and embraces the future.  We thank them for the music by laying all our love.  The ABBA Voyage experience confirms what I have always believed. ABBA are the greatest pop band of all time.

Rob Cope

Further details can be found at abbavoyage.com 

 

REVIEW: THE CHER SHOW (UK Tour) @ Manchester Opera House

 

Listen up bitches. Pop stars don't come much more iconic than Cher. From her first hit in 1965,  she is still churning out music which is being snapped up by multi-generational buyers nearly six decades later.  It was perhaps inevitable that her life and music catalogue would make it to the musical theatre stage.  And this it did in 2018 when The Cher Show opened on Broadway amid much publicity.   It has taken a little while to cross the Atlantic but now a brand new revised UK production has set off on tour bringing the style icon's story to stages across the land.

The awkward teenager Sherilyn Sarkisian, from mixed race parents, has been the subject of racial predjudice and harrassment but from these humble beginnings and encouraged by her forthright mother she discovered an unusual and powerful singing voice. Meeting Sonny Bono when she was just 16 was the turning point.  Sonny was an upcoming  song writer and producer - being mentored by Phil Spector - and the first song Cher ever sang on was background vocals to The Ronettes' 'Be My Baby' in 1963.

To tell her meteoric rise to fame the author Rick Elice has brought in three actresses to portray Cher at different stages of her life.  Millie O'Connell (Babe),  Danielle Steers (Lady) and Debbie Kurup (Star).  All three ladies work hard to bring out the distinctive Cher mannersims and low vocal style.  O'Connell still perhaps reminds me more of her Maureen in Rent than Cher at times, but she is a great performer and her natural charisma carries her through.  Steers and Kurup get to portray the more familiar rock goddess and they both nail it,  voices to die for and looking fabulous.  All three have 'turned back time' to give us a heavy flavour of the icon.

For every Cher there has to be a Sonny,  and here the production is blessed with the amazing Lucas Rush who nails Sonny in his younger years,  bringing out Bono's natural flair for comedy and also the more troubled Bono as their marriage breaks down.  It is a first rate performance. Sam Ferriday proves a chameleon during the production playing Cher's husbands Greg Allman and Rob Camilletti (with very dodgy wig), Phil Spector and Cher's step Dad Joe Southall.  Legendary costume designer Bob Mackie is given life by Jake Mitchell, who seems to be channelling the great Australian camp comedian Bob Downe.  Tori Scott has the difficult task of giving us a rounded character in Cher's Mother Georgia, given there is little stage time and only a few moments of clunky soundbites to work with.

Director Arlene Phillips and costume designer Gabrielle Slade have made this a production of dark brooding scenes interspersed with glorious technicolor set pieces. Despite the many sequins on display there isn't however any sense of Cher's outrageous stage wardrobes.  I'd have liked to have had a sense of her penchant for the OTT in the finale.But that's not to say the show doesn't look fabulous, because it does.  Choreographer Oti Mabuse finds the dance styles of the 60s and 1970s variety easily,  and the hard working ensemble dance up a storm around the principal performers.

But of course the backbone of the show are those songs...  35 of them crammed into two hours.  I Got You Babe.  Gypsies, Tramps And Thieves.  Song For The Lonely.  If I Could Turn Back Time.  Heart Of Stone. The list,  like the beat, goes on and on.  Some are just short refrains and there were times I thought some of the dialogue could have been trimmed in favour of giving us full on versions.  But that is the nature of the dramatic musical, it is not a concert and the light and shade have to be carefully balanced.

Musical Director David Belton leads his four strong band into the mix with the sequencing producing a big sound worthy of the incredible pop material they are given to work with.  

Overall The Cher Show is a wonderful night out.  Just when you think Cher's woes (she doesn't get nominated for an Oscar for her first movie.  Yeah, I know it's heart breaking!) might overwhelm the piece, one of those songs just lifts you right out of your seat.  By the time we get to the finale - what other song than Believe,  still the biggest selling song by a female artist ever in the UK - the audience are itching to get up and dance. And this production delivers on that promise. Three Chers, one incredible show.  Follow that bitches.

 

Rob Cope for Doctor Theatre

Tour details can be found at cheronstage.com  

 

REVIEW: HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH @ HOME, Manchester

 

If ever a piece of theatre was ahead of its time, it is Hedwig and the Angry Inch.  Originally premiering in 1998, this transgender tale of a beautiful German boy who undertakes a botched gender reassignment operation in order to marry an American soldier and escape communist East Berlin, is a cautionary one.

Defining the show is difficult.  Is it theatre?  Is it a rock concert?  Is it a stream of consciousness outpouring?  Well it is all of these things but more than that, it is a dream showcase for the right performer.  Thank goodness someone had the good sense to marry Hedwig with Divina De Campo. The role fits the Drag Race UK star like a glove.  With her amazing three octave voice,  De Campo inhabits Hedwig Robinson as the embittered performer plays the Rusholme Community Centre with her band The Angry Inch. Whilst her former songwriting partner,  now turned megstar,  Tommy Gnosis plays Old Trafford just a stones throw away.  Gnosis is recovering from an accident which saw him crash his car whilst high and being given a blow job by Hedwig. 

The story emerges that Hansel (Hedwig) suffered an abusive relationship with his mother,  but inherited a love of Western rock music from her which made the young boy dream of escaping to the West and becoming a singer.  On meeting the aforementioned soldier (and being conivnced to have the unfortunate surgery) a new life beckoned in Kansas.  It was not to last, and now Hedwig tours with her band and her husband Yitzhak (a charismatic and mostly silent stooge, Elijah Ferreira).  Her tortured existence constantly searching for 'the other one', a way of completing the person she needs to be.

Director Jamie Fletcher has pitched this show perfectly.  He gives it a local flavour but never lets us forget this is a story of international borders, and repression.   It is quite a dark journey but this is tempered with some bawdy humour (and endless blow job references) which keep us from descending into the depths of Hedwig's soul for too long.   I have to confess that I have never watched Drag Race so I knew nothing of Divina De Campo.  But this is a true star performance,  De Campo commands the stage for one hour and forty minutes solid,  delivering all the characters in Hedwig's life with aplomb.  At times scary, vulnerable,  fearsome and despondant - every beat is picked up on and expanded in De Campo's amazing performance.

The punk / glam score by Stephen Trask offers the intense rock soundscape the character demands.  The on stage band (Alex Beetschen, Frances Bolley, Isis Dunthorne, Jess Williams) play with virtuosity and whip the audience to a frenzy as Hedwig veers out of control before emerging sans wig and outrageous outfits,  as she finally finds peace and acceptance within herself.

Hedwig is in many ways not an easy piece,  it demands some intelligence of the audience,  but when it is so convincingly portrayed as it is here, the show becomes a mission statement for anyone who differs from the norm.  I would hope this co-production between Leeds Playhouse and Manchester's HOME has a life outside the current engagement.  If only that the stellar blaze of Divina De Campo's Hedwig can be experienced by a wider audience.  Whilst Hedwig may have hit her rock bottom in Rusholme,  De Campo has award winner written all over her for this blistering portrayal.  

Rob Cope

 

REVIEW: THE OSMONDS - A New Musical (UK Tour) @ Regent Theatre, Stoke On Trent

 

 

With jukebox musicals plundering the back catalogues of artistes from the 1950s onwards, it was only a matter of time before the all-American 1970s phenomenon of The Osmonds would come under the spotlight.  The Mormon superstars climbed high, had a wobble but remained smiling. Its a rock 'n' roll fairy story.

This musical has the added advantage of a view from the inside. The story is provided by non-other than Jay Osmond himself, drummer with The Osmonds and sixth son of that infinite showbiz family.  A piggy in the middle in every sense.   

 

 

The young Osmond brothers  - Merrill, Alan, Jay, Wayne - big break came on the Andy Williams Show for NBC in 1962 where their cute harmonies and barbershop image brought them much acclaim from middle America.  Driven by a father who drummed them like a military academy (and a mother who was quite passive in events if this version is to be believed) they were trained (or bullied depending on your viewpoint) into perfect harmonies, perfect smiles and a less than perfect childhood.  Faith, family and career in that order was the family mantra. Seemingly driven to reach ever higher with their talents father George was admired and feared in equal amounts.  But reach them they did, and a change to rock and roll brought the family a new and entirely ectstatic audience, and Osmond-mania was born.  By this time younger brothers Donny and Jimmy had gotten in on the act, not to mention sister Marie, whose country tinge brought her a whole heap of fans too.

And as the 1970s got underway so did the Osmonds hit machine.  And what hits they were:  Down By The Lazy River,  The Proud One,  Goin' Home,  One Bad Apple,  Yo-Yo... the list goes on and on.  And this is the strength of the show,  those infuriatingly catchy melodies performed expertly by a hit squad cast.  

Alex Lodge as Jay steers the show expertly with his narration,  his big smile and rapport with the audience proving the perfect foil for the rags to riches tale.  He is matched by some wonderful talents portraying the brothers:  Ryan Anderson's conflicted Merrill,  Jamie Chatterton's overbearing Alan,  Danny Nattras' weary Wayne and Joseph Peacock's high voiced Donny are all superb.  Singing, dancing up a storm and acting their socks off.  These guys work their passage to the standing ovation the show received.   Similarly Georgia Lennon's Marie Osmond might not get as many opportunities as the boys but when she does in Paper Roses and I'm Leaving It All Up To You she is pure Nashville.   I wish I could name the younger ensemble of children who make up the early part of The Osmonds' story.  The programme lists all the young performers who tour with the show,  so I cannot name them but they are a powerful collection of talents in their own right,  with little Jimmy's Long Haired Lover From Liverpool being something of a showstopper.  Bravo to them all.  A word too for Charlie Allen's George Osmond, managing to stay this side of likeable amid his questionable drilling of his young sons.  A nice layered performance.

 

 

The tensions in the show come from the infighting and petty jealousies caused by a family forced to spend so much time together on the road.  For my money the script needs tightening.  I could easily knock off 20 minutes of the show, without affecting the quality or its narrative journey.   But this tour is obviously a testing ground and doubtless tweaks will be made.  Julian Bigg and Shaun Kerrison have taken Jay's story and woven it into a stage format and mostly it is on the button.  Kerrison also directs with Bill Deamer's choreography helping produce the high energy,  in your face musical moments that are the wow factor.

We come near to some actual drama when the family loses their $80,000,000 fortune to debt. But with big smiles and Yankie bravado we are told they toured for two years and paid every penny back.  Aren't those Osmonds nice fellas?  It would have been a disappointment if the show hadn't ended in schmaltz and we get it with Love Me For A Reason and He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother.   But thankfully before we descend into a well of sentimentally,  Crazy Horses rocks the theatre and suddenly we are back in 1972 without a care in the world.   Amid the screams of middle aged ladies, we are all on our feet dancing. Its the way we want the world to be.  The Osmonds musical is not subtle but then neither were The Osmonds.  We loved them for a reason says the publicity and this show sure proves it.

Rob Cope for Doctor Theatre

Show tour dates can be found at theosmondsmusical.co.uk

 

 

 

REVIEW: COUNT ARTHUR STRONG @ Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

 

 

 

 

For those who may be unaware,  Count Arthur Strong is now in the twilight of his career.  He started in the dying days of variety where he had some minimal success it seemed,  but since then his career has stalled in the backwaters of Doncaster where he hatches mad plans to get him back to the top.  He has a unique view of the world where he is the central lynchpin,  and every one else are mere satellites.  

Over the past twenty years,  Count Arthur's tours have sold out venues throughout the country and it was nice to see a packed Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury as the Count took  the stage for his "This Is Me" anniversary tour.  What you get with the Count is a stream of consciousness ranting about random subjects,  often darting off at a tangent before coming back to the main point that Arthur is trying to make.  If he can remember it.  Like all the greatest character comedians,  Count Arthur exists in a world which the faithful inhabit with him.  Where his regular port of call is 'The Shoulder Of Mutton' whilst he dines daily at the pinnacle of Doncaster society's eateries Gerry's Cafe (a Michelin tyre has been talked about!). Occasionally stopping off at Wilf Taylor's Quality Meats to inspect the offal. Despite having mixed with the higher end of showbiz alumni (Danny La Rue and Anita Harris are frequently name dropped) Arthur never the less busies himself with lesser schemes much to the detriment of the residents of Doncaster.

Make no mistake about it,  Steve Delaney's portrayal of Count Arthur is as great a comic creation as Barry Humphries' Dame Edna or David Jason's Del Boy Trotter.  Delaney inhabits the character to his very core,  knowing at any moment exactly how Arthur will react or respond.  For my money Count Arthur's natural home is the radio where his BBC show has been running since 2005, picking up a spate of awards along the way.  His now annual radio Christmas special is among my festive highlights. The BAFTA nominated BBC television sitcom (2013 - 2017) strangely moved this most Northern of characters to the London Boroughs and also contained genuine moments of comic genius.  It seemed not everybody 'got' Count Arthur, and the TV show was messed about by the BBC in the schedules and thus its run curtailed, when in fact it had a lot more life in it. But that's showbiz, as Count Arthur knows only too well.

 

This latest tour by Arthur is a tour-de-force of character comedy as we might expect.  Some very funny set pieces involve Napoleon, a French dance sequence, an appearance of  Psychic Charlie and the Count's tribute to the King Of Rock 'N' Roll (or should that be bacon rolls?). We may even have been privvy to a casting announcement (somewhere between P and R alphabetically speaking) for the next James Bond movie. To reveal more would deny the joy of surprise for audiences on the tour.  Its not the funniest show I have seen Delaney perform (the first half particularly needs a bit more structure) but it cannot be denied that Count Arthur is laugh out loud funny. A perfect tonic for the troubled times we live in. Genius is an overused word in luvvie circles, but for once I think it truly applies. I really do.

 

Rob Cope for Doctor Theatre 

For further details of the tour check out Count Arthur Strong's Website

REVIEW: MARVELLOUS @ New Vic Theatre, Staffordshire

 

The story of Neil Baldwin is an extraordinary one. Seemingly with his learning difficulties,  life might have put him on the back foot.  But Neil was never going to accept this.  Instead his dogged determination saw him become a bone fide clown legend in circuses,  a high profile kit man for his beloved Stoke City FC and more than that,  a beacon of friendliness and help for students of Keele University for over 50 years. He has simply devoted his life to being happy and making others happy. The BBC drama of Neil's story Marvellous (in which he himself went onto co-star with Toby Jones) went on to win a BAFTA award.  Now, Neil's story has truly come home with the New Vic Theatre adaptation of his book just a couple of miles from where much of his story takes place.

                                                                   Jerome Marsh-Reid

Malcolm Clarke has collaborated with Neil to adapt his story for the stage. It takes the form of a group of the actors who are in fact trying to tell his story (shades of Godspell in the approach) and trying to figure out what actually happened along the way.  This is all well and good, but the 'real Neil' (played superbly by Michael Hugo, who captures many of Neil's personality traits) has something to say about it.  And thus we are transported to the 1940s when Neil was born and through various stages of his life.  Saying no to Neil is virtually impossible, as a succession of the famous and not so famous have found out over the decades,  so when Neil says he wants to be a clown the owner of his chosen circus stands no chance. Thus was born Nello The Clown. For nigh on a decade Neil travelled the country for a number of well known circus outfits and made people laugh.  He was undoubtedly exploited,  working often for no wages, but just being able to make people happy was Neil's utlimate reward.

 

                                                           Michael Hugo & Suzanne Ahmet
 

When eventually he does find his way back to Stoke, his mother asks him what he wants to do. Become Stoke City's manager is the answer.  Well he didn't quite make that position, but the then new manager for the club Lou Macari saw something special in Neil as he waited in the rain outside the club entrance.  He gave him the position of kit man.  But Neil's inner clown wouldn't die, and he became a mascot to the team appearing in all manner of silly and outrageous outfits to motivate the players and fans. His legend was secured.

The New Vic's production is very cleverly staged.  Neil's shopping bag takes on miraculous qualities as all manner of props appear out of it,  and the wonderful ensemble each take turns at being Neil at different stages of his life.  Suzanne Ahmet,  Charlie Bence,  Gareth Cassidy,  Alex Frost, Jerome Marsh-Reid and Daniel Murphy all work their socks off donning different guises,  dashing around the stage and giving very physical performances. But it is essentially Hugo's detailed performance which holds the evening together.

It is by anybody's standards a hugely entertaining evening.  There is still a bit of work to be done for my tastes,  the play needs tightening so it flows better. A good ten minutes could be cut without affecting the play at all,  and a long clean up after the slapstick cooking scene could have been staged more effectively. However, small niggles in what is a feel good evening where a true original is celebrated.

As if not to be left out of the proceedings,  Neil himself pops up at the end waving at us and making sure we have enjoyed his story. Well we have Neil.  You are Marvellous.

Rob Cope for Doctor Theatre

                                                                The cast of Marvellous

                                                           Michael Hugo and Neil Baldwin

REVIEW: AN EVENING WITH SU POLLARD @ Garrick Theatre, Altrincham

 

Anyone who has not seen the powerhouse that is Su Pollard is missing a force of nature.  Although best known for her sitcom characters - most specifically her early 1980s breakout turn as chalet maid Peggy in Hi-de-Hi! - she has become over the years a national treasure and one of our most original and dynamic stage performers.   

Having notched up an enviable CV of theatre and television appearances,  Su has now embarked on a national tour of her one woman show, which has been titled Oh..and another thing..  because that is how the serial chatterbox peppers her lengthy conversations.

As you enter the auditorium and witness the stage setting of glitter curtains and huge pair of pink specs that overshadow the evening, you know we are not in Kansas anymore.  Su has been called the Queen of Camp and she owns the title unashamedly.  She arrives in a haze of sequinned fabulousness, in great voice and accompanied expertly by Michael England on keyboards.   She starts by telling us how Covid stopped her in her tracks (as if anything could!) and then proceeds to give us a whistle stop tour through her beginnings in Nottingham,  working as a secretary,  her hippy fashion vibe and onto her first steps as a professional actress.  She tells of going to the same auditions as Elaine Paige (and what happens when their careers fuse) and of course onto snapshots of her career such as being in the chorus of The Desert Song,  being spotted in Godspell, meeting her mentors Jimmy Perry and David Croft and of course her surprise hit single, which shot to number 2 in the national charts (Damn that Diana Ross!)

Whilst apparently chaotic and an air of the adhoc pervades the evening,  it is in fact carefully crafted by director Roger Haines. The f-bomb is dropped casually throughout, as well as a few jokes which might have your elderly aunt all a fluster.   But trying to review such an energetic frenzy is like trying to describe the view from the eye of a hurricane. Pollard is hysterical throughout,  but also brings the air of vulnerability that her sitcom characters also possess.  A case in point is her rendition of the wistful ballad There Was Something About Mr. Henderson,  beautifully pointed and delicate, before we are off again into the mad storm of Su's comedy onslaught.  Pollard has the ability to connect directly with her audience,  we know she is one of us,  and in return her audience adore her right back.   Oh..and another thing.. needs to be available on the NHS, as the power of its star to lift us up and make us feel good about being alive is intoxicating.

In many ways the Q & A session in the second half is anti-climatic.  Sure the audience get to put their questions to Miss P, and we learn more of her career,  but it is the first half of the evening which gives the audience a warm glow as they leave the theatre.   

Throughout the evening Su neither looks nor acts like her 72 years,  she has earned her stripes (or her Yellowcoat) and delivers a comedy performance that frankly is a masterclass from a unique and brilliant lady at the peak of her powers. Miss her at your peril.

Rob Cope for Doctor Theatre

Photos courtesy of Glen Chavannes