Tonight’s The Night

Why Ben Elton chose to set a Rod Stewart musical in America is beyond me, what it does is render all the hits as MOR country numbers, odd to say the least, close your eyes and it could be Dolly and Kenny. Maybe Mr Elton was angling for a Broadway hit? That said the company are for the most part excellent and the Faustian plot, whilst not particularly inspired, has its moments. Jenna Lee-James as Mary has a stunning voice and can certainly convey the drama through song. The same goes for Andy Rees as Rocky who steals the evening with a truly memorable version of I Don’t Want To Talk About It. The same goes for Michael McKell who plays Stoner. No prizes for spotting his inspiration but full marks for a truly hilarious performance and for recovering from a major corpse in Act II. Oddly the audience packed with Rod fans did not seem to engage in the same way as your usual tribute style Juke-box show, until the very end that is when they went crazy. This was good as it meant that you could watch it for the play rather than endure endless standing and clapping along – and for that I applaud it. I just wish it had been set in the UK, Glasgow even – I mean we do have a rock and roll history of our own – Rod Stewart is the proof of that.

Theatre Royal Brighton, 10 March 2014
Andrew Kay

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