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Kit Orton as Tom Scott, an early incarnation of Tom Jones, with The Senators. Tom – the musical
The New Alexandra Theatre
**** IF ever a show deserved its chance in the
West End this is it. It’s fun with some good music, a strong story of
struggle and love among
the pits of the Welsh valleys and, most endearing, it has an honest
charm about it. This isn’t a flash jukebox musical, a vehicle for
a tribute show with a string of Tom Jones hits separated by a hint of a
script, this is a warts and all story of Tommy Woodward, womanising,
hard drinking, son of a miner. He was a lad ready for a fight at the drop of a
hat, no stranger to trouble It was a voice that could still the raucous
crowds in working men’s clubs and pack them in wherever he appeared in
around Pontypridd. Solo pub singer Woodward became Tom Scott and the
Senators -weddings, pubs, clubs and support for touring bands a
speciality.
Their big break came through Gordon Mills,
producer, song writer, manager, who took them to the big time in London
– except the big time was just more of the little time in a scruffy
basement flat paid for by Mills, who was backing his faith in Tom with
mounting personal debts. A failed record, and a diet of small time gigs
could have been the end of the now broke and dispirited Tom, made worst
by the news Linda was looking at getting a job to make ends meet. It was
a badge of working class honour that husbands provided, while wives
stayed at home to bring up the family. Linda having to work was more
than failure as a pop star, it was a public admission of failure as a
father and husband. Which is where fate
came in; by chance another in an endless string of demos of Mills’ songs
was turned down by the intended recipient, Sandie Shaw, and recorded
instead by Tom. It’s not unusual
was the end of the story of Tommy Woodward,
the end of Tom Scott, and The Senators. It was the start of Tom Jones,
Jones the voice. Newport-born Kit Orton is a splendid Tom, with a suitable swagger, gyrating hips and a voice that cleverly grows as Tom gets more accomplished and confident in his ability. The story is punctuated by the young Tom singing hits of the time such as Spanish Harlem, Ghost Riders in the Sky and I can’t stop loving you. By the end with an
encore of Jones’ hits such as Sex Bomb,
Green Green Grass of Home, Delilah and
What’s New Pussycat
and you could have been watching a young Tom
Jones. Elin Phillips is the supportive and long
suffering Linda, Jones’s wife. Despite Tom’s dalliances with other women
they were to remain happily married for 59 years until Linda’s death
from cancer in Los Angeles last month. There is good support to from Richard Corgan as the no nonsense Gordon Mills while John McLarnon (Vernon), Tom Connor (Dave), Daniel Lloyd (Mickey) and Kieran Bailey (Chris) are superb as the four-piece band who make up the Senators.
While the cast provide us with family, pub
regulars, passers-by and the two ladies of the night who live in the
flat above. Acting as narrator, boyo, is Jack Lister, played
by Phylip Harries, who pops up on tenor sax for the on yer feet
singalong at the end. Perhaps West End shows might be flashier, with
more polish, more pizazz, but that is more than made up for with this
show’s heart and honest charm and it is a show you can enjoy whether or
not you are a Tom Jones fan, the story, not the music, is the thing. Like Tom Jones this is a child of the Valleys
seeking the big time and its Gordon Mills is Theatr na nÓg, a tiny
community theatre on an industrial estate in Neath that few have heard
of and even less can pronounce. Like Tom Jones it has a story to tell and writer
Mike James has stuck to his task if telling it while Director and Theatr
na nÓg artistic director Geinor Styles has kept the story on track
helped by a splendidly flexible set from Sean Crowley with stage size
video projections of everything from pit heads to street scenes, and
effective minimal sets for factories, clubs, pubs and my particular
favourite item, the shade on a standard lamp turned to change the
decoration from the Woodward family home to that of Linda. The first question a
reviewer asks as they head home is did I enjoy it? And the answer is
yes. The second is did the audience enjoy it? And from their reaction,
they loved it. Tom could have had its own
It’s not unusual
moment. To 0-06-16 Roger Clarke 01-06-16
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, married at 16 when his girlfriend Linda,
15, became pregnant and, if the fates had their way, an ideal recruit
for a life of toil and trouble in the factories or pits of South Wales –
except for one thing . . . Tommy Woodward had a voice.