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Reason To Believe
Tonight’s
The Night The New
Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham ****
BEN Elton has made quite a journey since his angry, ranting alternative
comedy days of the 1980s. Few people would have imagined that this
edgy, anti-Thatcher figure would go on to write mainstream, safe and
extremely commercial musicals. Socialism, it seemed, was simply not
paying enough! Tonight’s
The Night is Elton’s
second compilation musical, following on from the hugely successful
We Will Rock You.
The formula is the same. Take a bunch of well known, crowd pleasing
songs and construct a storyline around them. The key is to find music with
mass appeal. Queen ticked the boxes for We Will Rock You and Rod
Stewart does the job here. Its nothing new, of course, Mamma
Mia has been filling theatres around the world for years. You
can’t keep a good tune down and as recipe for box office success, it’s
potentially a good one. What disappoints slightly here
is the storyline. Given Mr Eltons undoubted pedigree (this is the man,
lets not forget , who wrote ‘ Black Adder), you might think that the
story would be a strength. What we have, though, is a very simple
tale that has been told so often before. Shy kid from the back streets
becomes famous, forgets his roots, dumps his girlfriend, sees the error
of his ways and it all ends happily ever after. Of course, its all about the
music but that doesn’t mean there can’t be an imaginative story to
accompany it. Unlike We Will Rock which contains some wonderfully
drawn out
At times, mostly towards the
end, the energy is cranked up and the music and choreography combine
with real excitement. Do You Think I’m Sexy is a real highlight
but the zest and feel good factor is left a little late and need to be
more in the mix throughout. The skills of a terrific ensemble cast
are somewhat wasted and under used.
Ben Heathcote struts his stuff
with gusto as Stuart, the kid from Gasoline Alley with a dream to
emulate his idol. Jenna Lee James, as his impressively loyal
girlfriend Mary, interprets some of Rod’s slower numbers with power and
Jade Ewen, as Dee Dee, adds real soul and contrast in her delivery.
Tiffany Graves doubles up nicely as rock chic manager, Baby Jane and the
hot as hell, Satan. Hell may not be a bad place to be after all if she
is in charge! Andy Ress gives a real and
likeable performance as Rocky and McKell gets the laughs as Stoner
- a man high on many things, including life. As a piece of escapist
entertainment, Tonight’s The Night works well. Rod Stewart fans
will love it. Familiar songs are played well by a tight onstage band and
voices are strong and often poignant (though not always mixed perfectly)
Choreography is dynamic, clever and sexy. In other words, much of
this show has a lot going for it. Add more interesting and drawn
out characters together with a more imaginative storyline and it could
be so much better. If you like a bit of Rod, and
lets face it, many do, you will come out smiling. Oh . . . and you get a
free hat too. I’ll leave it you to guess what kind of hat that might be.
To 01-03-14. Tom
Roberts
And sailing along in the rear . . .
PAPER sailors’ hats are handed out to
the audience as they arrive for this Rod Stewart musical which cruises
majestically through 25 of the super star’s hits. And the majority of the customers dutifully
popped them on during the opening night performance when the big moment
arrived in the second act with the excellent cast singing
Sailing. By then they had really warmed to Ben Elton’s
amusing story of a geeky young man in Detroit who sells his soul to the
devil for Rod’s and is transformed into a go-get ‘em wannabe star with
girls galore, but in danger of losing the one he genuinely loves. After a somewhat untidy, rather raucous opening,
the show grows on you, particularly as the leads have such fine voices
which do justice to the big numbers. Ben Heathcote completes a perfect transformation
from the nervy mechanic, Stuart, to a star in the making, rarely without
a thin tartan scarf hanging from his waist, and Jenna Lee-James, playing
his so-loyal girlfriend, Mary, sings beautifully, especially in Stay
With Me and I Don’t Want to Talk About It. It’s a sexy shows with gorgeous girls, and you
hang in there wondering if Mary will tire of her rock star’s loose
behaviour and be won over by his nice pal, Rocky (Andy Rees), who is
deeply in love with her but can’ get close enough. Terrific support, too, from Jade Ewen (Dee Dee),
Tiffany Graves (Satan and Baby Jane), and Michael McKell (Stoner), and
the reaction of the audience at the finale, on their feet,
swaying, singing then cheering, says it all. Directed by Caroline Jay Ranger with Griff
Johnson’s musical direction and Denise Ranger’s choreography, to
01-03-14 Paul Marston
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and
interesting characters, there is no one, barring the Keith Richard
inspired Stoner (beautifully played by Michael McKell ) of any great
interest here. What that leaves us with is essentially a Rod
Stewart concert with a few simple scenes in between. Fine, on a
musical level. Frustrating, as a piece of theatre.