REVIEW: BILLY ELLIOT @ Leicester Curve

 

I have to confess, that this is a slightly biased review.  Billy Elliot is one of two Elton John musicals in my Top Ten musical theatre shows (the other being the yet to be produced in the UK Aida).  I was a great admirer of the original London production which I saw many times, and have often thought anyone attempting to revive it would face an uphill climb in both logistics of getting a young cast together and rivaling the London production which ran for 11 years.

 

 

But here we are in 2022,  and Leicester's ambitious Curve Theatre have taken up the challenge of telling Billy's story.  If there is anyone who has not seen the original movie back in 2000,  the story is set in the North East pit village of Easington during the bitter miners strike of 1984/85.  The pit communities were brought to their knees by the strike amid clashes with police as the National Union of Mineworkers stood against Margaret Thatcher's government to try and stop Pits being closed.  Amid this slice of social history stands Billy Elliot.  An 11 year old son of a miner who develops a talent for dance which is recognised by the local dancing teacher Mrs. Wilkinson.  And so the story unfolds of Billy trying to escape his social position and the bigotry of his family to pursue his gift.  

Set designer Michael Taylor makes full use of the Curve's wide and deep stage, filling it with scaffolding,  wire fencing and a central tower which serves as Billy's home.  Lit by Ben Cracknell with a stunning lighting array,  the atmosphere of the inflammable situation is right there before us.  The score by Elton John and Lee Hall as I have indicated, is just brilliant.  From the choral miners defiance of 'The Stars Look Down' through the urgency of 'Solidarity' to the tenderness of 'Billy's Letter', it is timeless music.

On the night I saw the show Samuel Newby (one of four Billy's in rotation) played the titular role.  It was a confident and flawless performance capturing both Billy's raw talent and his frustration at being caught up in the titanic struggle of the miners. Samuel's 'Electricity' is one of the evenings many highlights. Matched with Lucas Haywood as Billy's cross dressing friend Michael and Lola Johnstone as Debbie 'would you like to see me fanny?' Wilkinson,  it was a trio of young leads that would have been welcome on any stage in the country.   

The pivotal adult roles of world weary dance teacher Mrs. Wilkinson and Billy's robust widow father Jackie were equally outstanding.  Sally Ann Triplett finds both the hard edge and soft centre of Mrs. Wilkinson perfectly,  her voice and characterisation conjuring up Mrs. W's world in an instant. Joe Caffrey's gruff Dad torn between his commitments to the strike and his sons potential future is heart breaking.  Both actors deliver in spades. So too Rachel Izen as the increasingly dotty Grandma,  her song as Grandma reflects on her life as a miners wife is a tour-de-force.  Luke Baker as Tony, Billy's older brother,  is yet one more fine study of a young life overshadowed by the momentus events unfolding.

Both visually,  aurally (a stunning 7 piece band are perfection) and dramatically this production hits the nail on the head. Choreographer Lucy Hind teases the best out of the young leads whilst staging some terrific set pieces within the show. Director Nikolai Foster has managed to blend the many elements needed to make this complex show work brilliantly. As sparks reign down, glitter falls from the ceiling and the bank of lights worthy of a Queen concert are all brought into play,  the evening provides thrill after thrill.  Hopefully we haven't seen the last of this production.  Even after all these years,  Billy Elliot can still shine.

Rob Cope

REVIEW: BACK TO THE FUTURE THE MUSICAL @ Adelphi Theatre, London

 

Great Scott! Two and a half years ago I managed to catch one of the early performances of Back To The Future The Musical at the Opera House, Manchester before the spectre of Covid shut down the entire production just three weeks into a three month expected pre-London run. (Reviewed HERE)  I've been wanting to catch up with the show again and finally did so to a packed Sunday afternoon matinee at the London's Adelphi Theatre. In the interim the original London cast album has been released,  and the score has become a favourite with thousands of theatre goers experiencing the sheer spectacle that this show offers.   

 

 

It is clear that since my last encounter, the show has been tightened for its London run.  A bit of fat cut off it (including a whole song from Act One) but the show is all the better for it.  The ambitious scale of the show is one of the biggest selling points,  the effects weaving almost seemlessly with the musical theatre staging to form a very satisfying whole. The foyer of the Adelphi Theatre has done its best to enter into the fray of the 1955 time jump, and your first impression of the stage is spectacular as computerised graphics surround the prosenium and stretch out into the auditorium.  Our first indication that we are on a journey like no other.

Going to see a West End musical is like a lottery with regard to casting.  There are the A cast who do all the promotion and the cast album,  but the chances of you seeing the complete A team are slim.  There are always alternates and swings (performers covering several roles) that appear at a whim.  But this can work in the audiences favour as there are often some really wonderful talents waiting to be discovered when a principal performer is off.  In this case Will Haswell deputising for Olly Dobson and Joshua Clemetson filling in for Cedric Neal.   Haswell brings less of a Michael J. Fox vibe to the role of Marty McFly yet makes the part his own,  the singing particularly strong for a role which hardly ever sees him off the stage.  Similarly Clemetson brings a lovely light touch to Goldie Wilson,  easily mangaing to match Neal's impressive vocals and the show is lucky to have such strong alternates who step up to the mark magnificently.

 

 

Elsewhere Hugh Coles continues his scene stealing and award-winning turn as George McFly,  whilst Aidan Cutler chews the scenery (in a good way) as the Hill Valley bully boy Biff Tannen.  The ladies fare well too,  Rosanna Hyland successfully traverses the older and younger Lorraine Baines / McFly to great effect as Marty faces up to his mother's teenage past  ('Something About That Boy' being a score highlight). Courtney Mae-Briggs as Marty's 1985 girlfriend Jennifer Parker makes up for her under written part by bringing some fine vocals to the show.  Roger Bart has by now reached perfection as Doc Brown, whose scientific prowess kick starts the sequence of events which take us Back To The Future.  His gestures, facial expressions and charisma are at the heart of the show,  and he can even bring a tear to our eye with the wistful ballad 'For The Dreamers'.  This guy has it all, and it came as a shock to me that he failed to get an Olivier nomination.  But that's showbiz.  The roars of approval that greet him at the curtain call say more than any statuette.  

 

Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis (creators of BTTF) have hit the jackpot again.  By keeping creative control and making sure every aspect is as successfully realised as they want it,  the entire evening is a class ride from start to finish.  Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard (music and lyrics) have fleshed out the music of the original movie with songs that have the flavours of 1985 and 1955,  and are all very hummable.  You'll find the melodies from the show in your head for days.  My particular favourite is Doc's dream, imagining life in the '21st Century.'  An electronic disco stomper of an act two opener.  Visually the show is the most spectacular on the West End stage combining Tim Hatley's designs with Chris Fisher's illusions and Fin Ross' video projections to bring the complex sci-fi movie to life before our eyes.

With the news that the show will be opening on Broadway in 2023,  this is a post pandemic success story.  And the real secret is not the music, the effects nor the expert direction of John Rando.  It is simply that the show is full of joy.  Given the state of the world right now,  we need a show like Back To The Future to remind us of the good old days in a wave of nostalgia and much more simply,  to remind us of how wonderful it is to be alive and follow your dreams.  Set your Flux Capitors for the Adelphi Theatre whilst you can.  

Rob Cope

For further information check out the OFFICAL BACK TO THE FUTURE MUSICAL WEBSITE

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