Yesterday (29th April
2016) myself and Nanny Cora popped to the West End to see Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of the War of the Worlds - Alive on Stage! at the wonderful Dominion Theatre. Despite some sad and unwanted news earlier this week we made a grand
day of it. Nanny Cora made good time getting us to Newbury Park and we had some
giggles on the journey down, sorry for nearly breaking your hand Nanny before
we left. Nanny Cora does so much better with two sticks than one and she was on
the platform in no time. We got to Oxford Street and had a quick look in
Primark for some bargains and thank you very much for my new shorts Nanny. We
then went to Garfunkel’s right next door to the Dominion Theatre for tea. The
Dominion is a lovely theatre which I have been to on a few occasions. After a Pinot
Grigio and a double vodka we were well on our way to merriment. Nanny Cora was
also introduced to snapchat for the first time which resulted in some very
funny outcomes; actual tears of laughter fell to the table, especially when
Nanny Cora turned into a basset hound – too funny! So we had a wonderful meal,
starter and pudding and totted off to the Dominion. I would like to take this opportunity
to thank the courteous and compassionate front of house staff for their support
to Nanny Cora, finding our tickets, showing us to our seats and checking in
with us as we left the theatre, very warm and empathic staff which was lovely.
Despite a long journey home due to two diversions and a road closure we were finally
back safe and sound.
For those of you that have not
heard of The War of the Worlds it is a sci-fi novel by H G Wells. Published at
the end of the 1800’s it is one of the first fictional written accounts of
humans meeting extra-terrestrial intelligence. I have never read this seminal
novel of invasion literature however some dominant changes have of course been
adapted from book to musical album to stage. The musical version tells the story
of how four men deal with the Martian invasion, told in the style of narration
by one of the key protagonists future self. The show also features their wives
and other locals. The plot focuses on war, microbiological contamination and
religion which Jeff Wayne’s describes as important factors in the current world
climate. Wayne’s musical version is not the only adaptation of H G Wells
original book. Orson Welles narrated and directed a 1938 radio version, the
first film produced by George Pal in 1953 and a Stephen Spielberg re-make was
released in 2005 starring Tom Cruise as well as many other adaptations. In 1978
Jeff Wayne composed and produced a musical album conceptual version of the War
of the Worlds re-telling the story with music, lyrics and the spoken word. The
concept album has been a great success, selling millions of records worldwide. In
2009 it was the 40th best-selling album in the UK (I am unaware of
the current rankings). With an intense, spooky and typical sci-fi orchestration
and rock elements it has the ability to send you to outer space just by
listening to it.
Jeff Wayne’s album is split into
two parts (discs) which have since formed two Acts of the stage production. Act
1: The Coming of the Martians and Act 2: The Earth under the Martians; I am
still not sure how I feel about this production. It is definitely not like
anything I have ever seen before with some jaw-dropping and amazing moments. If
you want to see something very very different from usual theatre productions then
Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds is one hundred percent for you. For me the star
of the show had to be Jeff Wayne himself who composed the concept album back in
the 1970’s and was on stage conducting the massive orchestra who are on a
moving platform on the stage; Yes! An orchestra on stage, right up my street.
Wayne conducts The Black Smoke Band and the ULLAdubULLA Strings on stage and
this is really wonderful. Wayne’s talent received him a standing ovation on the
night. His musicality is awesome, the strings resonate through your body and it
is so intense. I love a strings orchestra and this makes your body tingle, and
the rock element of the Black Smoke Band just adds that cheery on top of the
cake. Songs and compositions such as ‘Forever Autumn’, ‘The Red Weed’ and ‘Life
Begins Again’ were my favourite – lyrics by Jeff Wayne, Gary Osborne and Paul
Vigrass. It really is an amazing album and I think I may have to purchase this.
Jeff Wayne’s the War of the Worlds
is the most serious thing I have ever seen on stage. Even productions such as
The Mousetrap, Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables that are known for their
seriousness have at least one funny character or one comedic scene, the War of
the Worlds is not like this at all. I did not laugh once, although I was
smiling a lot due to the musical genius that is Jeff Wayne, it is so serious
and intense. The special effects were the second most pertinent thing about the
show that resonated for. It was a total 4D multi-sensory experience, with the
sights and sounds of usual musicals the War of the Worlds features leaf shaped
paper confetti falling from the gods (I obviously got a few to keep within my
programme) as well as the heat from the fire that erupts from the stage
throughout the production. A few words cannot capture how amazing the special
effects were. The fire was awesome, it gradually crept in at the very front of
the stage and me and Nanny Cora, being in row F, felt the instant heat from this.
Initially it was just like a wall of fire and communicates the attack from the
Martians on the town folk. However as the music builds, the Martians erupt with
power and there is literally a fire display shooting up from the stage floor at
least ten feet into the air – it was epic. Tim Oliver is lighting designer and
although this was amazing too it really is not the best if you have issues with
strobe lighting; I was honestly squinting at some point of the show.
The third brilliant aspect of the
show was an amalgamation of choreography and costume design. Liam Steel’s
choreography is fantastic, the dance moves and catching of the company when the
Martians start attacking the human race are flawless. I think it must be quite
difficult to dance and move around the stage as though you are being blown up
by these fire blasting aliens. The other part of the War of the Worlds which I
absolutely loved is the Red Weed parts one and two. The costume designing (by
Gary McCann) is beautiful, set in the late 1800’s costumes of the humans is
good however when it gets to the Red Weeds scenes the company become the weeds
and roots of these trees and they look so real and scary. The choreography that
accompanies this scene is artistic realism, the inter twining, wrangling and growing
of the roots around the stage and the lead characters is creepy. This scene
lasts at least 25 minutes and the dancing and movement does not stop
throughout; it shows the stamina and talent of the whole company. Stufish creates
the amazing set design for the War of the Worlds. The back drop is ok and the
use of projectors (canvases) started to become annoying – see my rant in the
next paragraph – however some of the props and the Martian Fighting Machine is
awesome and reminded us of something out of the early Dr Who shows. It drops on
stage and walks across, not sure of the size of it but in previous arena tours
this massive thing has been 35-foot high and weighing 3 tonnes. The orchestra
appear to be arranged as would typically be expected however in this they are
layered and the platforms they are on move about, cross over and form part of
the set which is brilliant.
The production, produced by Bill
Kenwright, is also studded with stars; Liam Neeson is there in 3D holography
and narrates War of the Worlds as the Journalist looking back (just to confirm
he was not there live on stage). Although it was great to have someone of
Neeson’s calibre involved with the project it leads nicely into one thing I found
distracting and pointless to the War of the Worlds the constant use of white
canvases and projectors. Technology I think is a great theme within the War of
the Worlds and I am led to believe was something that was never not going to be
used however I think it was over exaggerated throughout the whole production. Ninety
percent of Neeson’s narration is him on this canvas that keeps dropping from
the top of the stage and going back up; I felt it did not add anything. At some
points Neeson was projected to be sitting at a desk within a wooden room on
stage; this had much more of a better effect that the canvases. These canvases
also featured at many other parts of the production and again I felt no benefit
from their presence. David Essex OBE plays the Voice of Humanity returning to
the War of the Worlds since his original involvement in the first album. Jimmy
Nail plays Parson Nathaniel, Simon Shorten as the Artilleryman
(understudy; Daniel Bedingfield was not
playing the evening we went), Madalena Alberto as Carrie (Journalist fiancée),
Heidi Range (known for being the long standing member of the Sugababes) plays
the Parson’s wife and Michael Praed plays the journalist. For me the acting was
not great and was superseded by the composition, special effects and orchestra.
The best singing voice I felt was Heidi Ranges, although Praed had some powerful
parts although his delivery of some of his lines were overly casual.
Jeff Wayne’s musical version of the
War of the Worlds finishes at the Dominion Theatre today (Saturday 30th
April 2016) and those reading are unable to see this run at the Dominion. I
have no doubt or hesitation to say I reckon this adaptation of H G Wells novel
will be alive on stage once again very soon and it will be a great thing to see
once more. The composing talent of Wayne, intense orchestration and special effects
are something any musical theatre fan needs to see. You may not be blown away
with any Olivier standard stage acting however the songs are great and the album
is definitely worth purchasing, no doubt us new fans will be keeping the concept
album of Jeff Wayne’s a best seller for a considerable more amount of time.
I’m off back to the Norwich Theatre Royal with Nanny Cora on Tuesday (3rd May) to see the touring
production of Guys and Dolls (again haha!) so will be posting again early in
the week. Please get in touch or follow me on twitter @AaronBurgess89 and share
your musical theatre stories, pictures, blogs or whatever.
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