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Chloe Edwards-Wood as Ophelia and Michael
Fletcher as Hamlet. Picture: Nicola Young Roll over Beethoven
Coventry Belgrade
**** ROLL Over
Beethoven by Bob
Eaton, takes the framework of Hamlet and indulges him in a nostalgic
trip to the musical memories of his youth, and the emergence of the UK’s
1950s Rock and Roll scene. Unlike other similar productions though there are
no famous tunes as Mr Eaton has written himself a healthy set of
sound-alikes to play out this story of Johnny Hamlet. Johnny is haunted by his late musician father,
who spookily brings to him all sorts of ghostly requests as he struggles
with a sudden suspicious romance between his uncle and his widowed
mother, while himself falling into a steamy romance with his childhood
sweetheart. While the excellent cast perform every song
themselves with energy and accuracy to the genre, the songs themselves
often feel a little contrived. Some however are great and even a number
about the band playing a summer season in Clacton somehow works in this
musical. Eaton also doesn’t hold back in his direction
which at times detracts a little from the core of his story There’s an
assortment of references to Morecambe and Wise, vaudeville and aside
gags that add a lot of humour to the production but take Jonny Hamlet’s
story out of context at times. Michael Fletcher is in
the central role of Johnny Hamlet and showed his strong voice,
especially with All Messed Up
- one of the better songs on the night. Paired with Chloe Edwards-Wood
as Ophelia, his young girlfriend, they both do a fine job of bringing
the vocal styles and performances of the era to life.
Joseph Eaton –Kent as
Larry and Niall Kerrigan as Waltzer sort of steal the show towards the
end with a surprising duo called the
Straight Pretender, a pastiche of
Elvis’s The Great Pretender,
where their forbidden attraction to one another is amusingly revealed.
Oliver Beamish as Claude on vocals and trumpet
and Matt Devitt as the ghost and lead guitar also made a great
impression with their musical skills. Patrick Connellan’s set is basic
and somewhat budget restrained but with the use of projectors to change
the backgrounds and some effective lighting it was more than enough to
create the atmosphere where needed. It’s difficult, with so many juke box shows like
Dream Boats and Petticoats around to see how Roll Over will compete. But
it’s quite possible, as this show parodies so many songs of the time,
that it could become something of a cult classic, and in the future
might enable lesser companies to have some rock and roll fun without the
copyright bill. If you can get past the corny jokes and at times
the very simple derivative lyrics, you are guaranteed to have a great
night of entertainment and that was demonstrated by the standing ovation
this polished and highly professional cast received and deserved at the
end of the night. To 17-09-16. Jeff Grant 06-09-16
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