Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Robbie Durham. Sort by date Show all posts
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Wednesday 25 October 2017
Million Dollar Quartet (UK Tour), Edinburgh Playhouse | Review
Million Dollar Quartet (UK Tour)
Edinburgh Playhouse
Reviewed on Tuesday 24th October 2017 by Liv Ancell
★★★
Memorialising the famous jam session of 1956, where fate brought together legends Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and newcomer Jerry Lee Lewis, Million Dollar Quartet is an energetic show which rattles through instantly recognisable hits from the golden age of rock n’roll at a lightning-fast rate.
Martin Kemp plays the ‘ringmaster’ of the show, Southern music mogul Sam Phillips. The man who brought them all together under his grass-roots label Sun Records, he also provides commentary as to the back stories of the four stars, frequently breaking the fourth wall and treating the audience like an old friend.
This is a fast-paced show with little time for dialogue; the first half is a mere 40 minutes of back-to-back tunes, with little time for talking. During this time, the characters share a little camaraderie, but the focus is on the hits. The spectacular array of voices as well as world class musicians in the tiny recording studio set turns the theatre show into a veritable live rock concert.
The leg-shaking, foot-tapping firecracker, Jerry Lee Lewis, is portrayed with limitless vitality by Martin Kaye - a role he has been playing since 2013, but astonishingly, not a single iota of his energetic and charismatic presence has waned in this time. He really stole the show and was an audience favourite - his cheeky and youthful, unpolished and unfiltered personality was both refreshing and infectious.
The other actors had clearly studied the iconic voices of their roles in great depth, with Robbie Durham (Cash), Matthew Wycliffe (Perkins) and Rhys Whitfield (Presley) all achieving near-perfect matches of their famous characters, even mimicking their stage presence and movements. Katie Ray played a supporting role of Dyanne, but when she did take to the microphone, the versatility and depth of her voice shone through. My only criticism of Katie Ray would be that her accent strayed from American to English at times, which was a little confusing.
The pace slows in the second half, as the session slowly winds down and reality sets in. It becomes clear that the session that we have witnessed was a remarkable and fleeting moment in history, where these four stars came together under one roof, united by the music they loved.
The ending was extremely ambiguous; for the last half an hour, it wasn’t clear quite when the show was going to end. The story ended, and the characters bowed. This was immediately followed by an impromptu seeming concert, allowing each of the 4 a solo to really showcase their talents, which whipped the audience into a frenzy. During this time, the lighting effects were amped up with extra rigging lowered, as we were no longer witnessing a performance in the confines of the recording studio.
In terms of staging and lighting throughout, it was relatively low key, with no transitions in staging. The singular static setting meant that a small recording studio was recreated on stage, which was a small place for such a big sound. This reinforced however how small-town Phillips’ recording studio really was though, making this encounter all the more unbelievable.
Overall, the talents in this show were incredible - particularly Martin Kaye’s performance in which playing complex scores on the piano while jumping around animatedly somehow seemed effortless. More dialogue and more of a back story would have perhaps given the show a little more depth and narrative however, but if you simply want to see a performance which showcases these artists or this style of music, Million Dollar Quartet is guaranteed to rock your socks off!
Tuesday 31 January 2023
Full cast announced for Winnie The Pooh The Musical
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The UK and Ireland premiere will begin performances at London’s Riverside Studios (Hammersmith) from 17 March, with an official opening on 26 March. The show will then tour the UK and Ireland until September 2023. Tickets for Riverside Studios and the UK & Ireland Tour are now on sale.
Sharing the role of Winnie the Pooh in London will be the previously announced Jake Bazel (who originated the role in New York) and Benjamin Durham (Young Frankenstein). Benjamin will play the title role on tour. The much-loved characters of Eeyore, Piglet, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga and Roo will be brought to life by an ensemble of performers, including Laura Bacon (Britain’s Got Talent, Star Wars), Harry Boyd (The Play That Goes Wrong, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story), Alex Cardall (Evita, The Osmonds: A New Musical), Chloe Gentles (Mamma Mia!, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), Lottie Grogan (Smurfs Save Spring: The Musical, The Lips for Puppets with Guys) and Robbie Noonan (Avenue Q UK Tour, Jack and the Beanstalk).
Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood, a new adventure is about to happen. A.A. Milne’s beloved characters, Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin and their best friends Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit and Owl (and Tigger too!), will all arrive on stage in a beautifully-crafted musical stage adaptation.
In a new story from the Hundred Acre Wood, this fresh stage adaptation is told with impressive life-size puppetry, exciting new stories and featuring characters that have played iconic roles in the lives of children for generations. Accompanying the modern narrative is an original score by Nate Edmondson, featuring some of the Grammy award-winning songs written by the Sherman Brothers for the original animated features, including Winnie the Pooh, The Blustery Day, The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers and Whoop-De-Dooper Bounce, plus A.A. Milne’s The More It Snows (featuring music by Carly Simon) and Sing Ho in a new arrangement.
Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Adaptation is developed and presented by renowned family entertainment creator Jonathan Rockefeller (whose spectacular puppetry is omnipresent in the acclaimed productions of The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show, Paddington Gets in a Jam and Sesame Street the Musical).
Inspired by the beloved books by A. A. Milne and the classic Disney featurettes, the production was welcomed in New York in 2021, where it broke theatre box office records for the largest advance, with rave reviews where it was called “Enchanting!” (Time Out); “Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Stage Adaptation is magical, sweet as honey, and full of humor. It's a wholesome, delightful, enchanting piece of theatre,” (BroadwayWorld); “A perfect reintroduction to live theater. It’s a captivating adventure with spectacular puppetry,” (Mommy Poppins); “Charming and whimsical stage show that Pooh surpasses every expectation I had for it,” (The Laughing Place); “Winnie the Pooh is delightfully first-rate,” (Theatre Pizzazz); “Irresistible. ‘Winnie the Pooh’ is sweeter than honey,” (DC Metro Arts); “An hour of bountiful joy,” (New York Theatre Guide); “Mesmerizing and lifestyle puppets and original Sherman Brothers tunes, the beautiful new Winnie the Pooh musical is must-see,” (Theatrely); “The wonderful thing about musicals is that musicals are wonderful things. The New ‘Winnie the Pooh’ Musical Is Sweeter than Honey,” (Toy Insider).
Website: winniethepoohshow.co.uk
Facebook: @WinnieThePoohShowUK
Twitter: @WinnieShowUK
Instagram: @WinnieThePoohShowUK
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