Me and me Nan (supposed to be Nanny and I – whatever English
grammar) travelled to London (Newbury Park) on 16th October 2015. I
have to say Nanny Cora drove all the way there with no hiccups so well done you!
We got into the city centre via tube and went to get our tea. Me and Nanny Cora
always have a good laugh on our little theatre outings and this one was no
different. We caught up on the family, my Nan’s busy social life and also
filled her in on what’s been going on in my world. We went to Caffé Concerto, a
little Italian restaurant on Leicester Square. We were going to go to some
other restaurants but when you’re as flash as me and Cora you gotta go posh. It
was a lovely little restaurant although the advertised live music and the CD
player did not really marry up in my eyes. I had a Pinot of course while Cora
entertained a vodka and lemonade. Lovely chicken meal was enjoyed by both. We
did have some posh (thought they were more like) couple sit next to us and one
woman got right on my nerves. All she wanted to talk about was all the places
her friends have houses abroad and that she stays in these beautiful places,
just beautiful. No one cares love – if you’re having a conversation during your
meal keep it to the table and not the whole restaurant please. Bloody posh
people, who think they’re posh, but don’t like spending a penny get on my tits.
She had a small hot chocolate, no food as she apparently had a salad before
coming out, tried to take her friends doggy bag for herself and then didn’t
even pay for her drink. Bloody cheapskate! So we finish our meal and take a
nice careful stroll up to the Palace Theatre; reminiscing about our last trip
to the Palace Theatre, four years ago, to see Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
(love this show and going to see the tour (again) in February 2016 so watch
this space).
The Palace is a lovely theatre and oh so grand. Nanny Cora
was commenting on how the fixtures were beautiful and the interior décor was
epic (not that she uses the word ‘epic’, lol!). I particularly like the little
gargoyle things that are all the way round the dress circle. The theatre also
has four tiers although I don’t know if they use the highest one – what would
you see? As always I try and get a seat in the stalls – such a bloody snob. The
theatre opened in 1891 and is a grade II listed building. It’s right on the crossover
of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road, huge theatre and basically unmissable,
unless you’re blind. I really love how the theatre really makes it obvious what
is playing at the theatre and some really notable productions over the past 15
years include Priscilla, Singin’ in the Rain and Les Misėrables; with a big
statue of something on the top. I have just realised I have not told you what
we went to see – The Commitments – they had a drum kit and saxophones;
Priscilla had a huge heel. Well I have to admit I did not rate the show at the
beginning. It just felt a bit flat and I didn’t really see where it was going.
I did enjoy the performance by the end but I have to say it is nowhere near my
favourite show and would believe it not to reach my top 20, maybe not even top
30. The storyline just seems repetitive if I am honest. I recently saw Sunny
Afternoon (you may remember) and it follows a similar story of the rise,
trials, tribulations and triumphs of a band; the difference being that Sunny
Afternoon is based on The Kinks and Commitments based on a fictional band based
on the book, and later film, by Roddy Doyle, of the same name. Strangely Sunny premiered
in 2015 whereas The Commitments in 2013; possibly as I saw Sunny before
Commitments it may have made the latter less interesting. I do not want to make
out the show was poorly made or the singing was bad, it was good, it just
didn’t excite me as other musicals do – but I am very glad I saw it.
The Commitments is directed by Jamie Lloyd. It is set in 1986
Ireland, focusing on two young guys setting up a soul band however need more
members to make the band a success and need a manager. The songs are all known
songs so I guess this makes it a jukebox musical. Some classics include ‘What
Becomes of the Broken Hearted’, Knock on Wood’, ‘Think!’, ‘Satisfaction’,
‘River Deep Mountain High’ and ‘Mustang Sally’; congratulations to Alan Williams
who was musical supervisor and arranger. All these are grand songs and they have
a really good beat behind them and the cast do this justice. I say cast, one
thing I did not rate about the musical was that only about 20% of the cast
sing, and me being a musical theatre addict I like to hear various voices and
different characters singing their songs. The character that sings the majority
of the songs is Deco who is currently portrayed by Brian Gilligan. He really is
a talented actor and singer; he basically performs a live soul rock gig, while
acting a two and a half hour west end show. He is very funny and has got the
character perfected. The original Deco was played by Killian Donnelly (who is
mentioned in my Kinky Boots post) and I can imagine his voice would have been
gorgeous in this (his voice on the Memphis soundtrack is also beautiful).
The
Commitments did not receive any Olivier nominations and I cannot comment
further as the competition that year were some musicals I have not yet seen;
although Killian was nominated for best actor in a musical for the
whatsonstage.com awards. The other singing was done by the three
Commitmentettes; who were portrayed by Jessica Cervi (Bernie), Natalie Hope
(Natalie) and Hollie O’Donoghue who I think played Imelda at the performance I
saw (according to the cast pictures in the programme). The staging was one
aspect of the show that I did love, the props and transitions between scenes were
fantastic and different clubs, environments and homes were all well portrayed
(well done Soutra Gilmour; set and costume designer). I also loved how the rain
was demonstrated via a person holding a hose pipe over the actor and then that
person mopped it up – it was very raw and quite funny and really worked within
the setup of the musical. Certain runners and stage supervisors were almost
part of the cast, coming on and reacting to the scene and moving various props
or staging in and out; I really likes this raw and inconspicuous approach. One
thing that I found difficult to manage was the lighting (sorry Jon Clark,
Lighting Designer). It was so bright at some points of the performance,
including before the show started and the interval as well at some of the
points where the cast are at a gig, making it super difficult to look at the
stage and see what was happening. I guess this is why the show was not
nominated for any awards in regards to lighting. The Commitments was nominated
for The Evening Standard award for best night out (losing out to The Book of
Mormon – which is fabulous); plus this award has about 10 nominees. I can appreciate
why it was nominated; it was a good night out. The finale and last few songs are
really like being at a live rock soul gig; the audience get involved, everyone’s
on their feet (even nanny Cora for two songs) and Gilligan really gave his all
out at this point and even embraces some audience participation which adds to
the genuinity of being at a live gig. The only problem with this is that you
always get some idiots in the audience who like to have all the limelight on
them and the weirdo in front of me and Nanny Cora, well we thought he was
having seizures his head and arms and legs were flailing about; it was highly
distracting when trying to watch a musical. However as Cora stated, if I’d of
had a few more pinots it would have most probably been me so I shouldn’t judge.
So although I have not rated The Commitments as the best musical in the 21sty
century it was very good and has lasted just over two years in the West End. It
is due to close in early November so there is not much time left if you do want
to see this show. If not just watch the movie I guess.
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