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Its a kind of magic
Rock on Gazza: Galileo (Noel Sullivan) gives the Bohemians something to rock about in this summer's spectacular. We Will
Rock You Birmingham
Hippodrome *****
THE Hippodrome has bagged itself a surefire, crowd-pleasing, smash hit
of a show for the summer - a real kind of magic - with this futuristic
musical set around the music of Queen. All right
it is a jukebox musical but it is a cut above most of the
genre,
fine worsted rather than polyester here, and yes Postman Pat probably
had a deeper, more sophisticated plot, and yes it did need someone to
sub the captions (licence as a noun is with a c and alright is two words
by the way-
all right? And yes, I know I should get out more) but there is so much
raw energy, unbridled enthusiasm and prodigious talent on show that none
of that really matters as they say - or at least Queen did. Press night also had the added
bonus of a rare appearance by Brian May - 64 this month by the way - to
play the encore of Bohemian Rhapsody. Queen, like Abba, have a back
catalogue of songs which anyone with an interest in music probably
knows, which is why We Will Rock You and Mamma Mia have
been so successful. There is a warm feeling of familiarity and a sing
along starts in your mind as soon as the band strike up with the first
number - and last night’s eight piece band
under MD Jim Henson were excellent by the way.
For older members of the
audience there is also the powerful drug of nostalgia. Brian May is five
months older than I am so his music is as much part of my life as his.
This was part of my youth flashing by in the best part of three hours. The tale is simple and is a
theme writer Ben Elton has used before. In his play Gasping big
business has taken over the world’s air supplies; in We Will Rock You
big business in the shape of GlobalSoft has taken over the world’s
music, controlling minds and the pop charts with a succession of
mindless, bland, computer-generated or manufactured pop stars and songs
- much like today in fact. Simon Cowell, apparently sent from hell to destroy rock and roll, takes a bit of a kicking throughout the show for the sorry state of modern pop - and why not. Among the brainwashed
population on Earth, renamed Planet Mall, GlobalSoft’s control is
complete, well almost – apart from one or two
throwbacks. There is Galileo (Noel Sullivan) who hears voices and
snatches of long lost pop songs, and Scaramouche (Amanda Coutts) who
refuses to become one of the Ga Ga girls - that’s radio rather than Lady
by the way - who inhabit the planet as mentally cloned females. She
dresses differently and knows about . . . things. Both Sullivan and Coutts have
fine, powerful voices and their duet Who Wants to Live Forever
was a delight. Coutts also has beautiful timing as she delivers a steady
stream of put-downs and one-liners and it seems she can also play
guitar. A talented lady. GlobalSoft is controlled by
the Killer Queen with Tiffany Graves belting out the numbers with
commendable gusto. This is pure burlesque with a few pantomime scowls
and sneers to emphasis she is a baddy, even if her tongue was very much
firmly in her cheek. Great fun. Her enforcer is Khashoggi played by Rhydian Roberts. It was a shock when the Birmingham City University music graduate did not win X-factor (that man Cowell gets in everything) as he certainly had the best voice and presentation the show has managed so far. His voice still stands out but here he is just one superb voice among so many in what is an assured performance.
Meanwhile up against the
forces of big business are the Bohemians, the rag bag of rebels waiting
for a leader to take them along the road to freedom and the promised
land of rock and roll. They are led by Britney (Leon
Lopez) and Meat (Jenny Douglas) who give fine performances as the rebel
rockers . . . who do have the slight
drawback of not actually knowing what rock and roll actually is
or what it sounds like - rebels without a chord so to
speak. Douglas can really belt out a
song and in my book anyone dressed in a basque, suspenders and ripped
fishnets can do no wrong - or was that Rocky Horror . . . We all know that Galileo, or
Gazza as Scary Mush calls him, will eventually save the world after
being led to the resting place of the of the soul of rock and roll by
ageing hippy Pop. Pop is a bit like a long
haired Harold Steptoe with a performance full of humour, and some
topical humour at that, from Ian Reddington. As I said the plot is tissue
paper thin although it does have some nice one liners and double
entendres to give laughs between the songs - all 25 of them - and enough
of a story line to keep your interest. It also succeeds in giving you an
uneasy feeling about the way the commercial pop music industry is
heading. The show might be an
apocalyptic warning about the growing power and influence of computers,
particularly in music, but that did not stop the designers (Mark Fisher,
production, Willie Williams, lighting, Bobby Aitken, sound) using every
gigabyte they could find to produce not only some fabulous sets with
giant video screens, lasers and a goodly collection from the stadium
rock show effects handbook but they also produced sound loud enough to
rattle fillings - after all this is a rock show.
To their, and the Hippodrome's credit though
the sound was always clean with no distortion or fuzziness. Tim Goodchild’s costumes,
uniforms for the cloned, Mad Max for the rebels, added to the sets and
choreography by Arlene Phillips (she of the too old . . . for a
show presented by Sir Bruce Forsyth) is fast, slick, modern and lively. The result is a thoroughly
entertaining, foot tapping, thigh-slapping, clap-clapping,
sing along, wave your arms in the air, standing
ovation evening. And with Brian May, or Dr May as he now is, on guitar
as well - what more could you ask for?. To 13-08-11. Roger
Clarke NOTE: Brian May is not a regular in the show and his appearances are rare so don’t expect him, just enjoy his and Queen’s music. You won’t be disappointed.
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