Tag Archives: Beverley Knight

“Cats” at the London Palladium

As if its original run of 21 years weren’t enough, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical has added on a few extra lives this year at the Palladium. For the newest instalment of the revival, Beverley Knight follows Nicole Scherzinger and Kerry Ellis as Grizabella, providing some star appeal. Knight is a superb performer and feels a little wasted in the role, but she gives a strong interpretation of perennial favourite ‘Memory’ and provides as good a reason as any for checking out the show.

Beverley Knight as Grizabella
Beverley Knight as Grizabella

A lot of people dislike Cats because it doesn’t have a story. Combating this prejudice is futile. T S Eliot’s poems merely provide Lloyd Webber and choreographer Gillian Lynne with a platform for song and dance numbers. Directed by Trevor Nunn, the whole show runs like clockwork and is an entertaining spectacle. The dancing is top notch – it’s hard to believe these guys are the same species as the rest of us (especially Mark John Richardson’s Mr. Mistoffelees). And it’s nice to see care taken to include the audience in the stalls, as the cats prowl amongst the crowd, delighting any kids you take along.

And yet the piece has aged badly. These days we’re used to musicals with a knowing edge and Cats comes close to taking itself seriously, it’s so doggedly humourless. These crazy cats have some hippy ideas about their Jellicle tribe meeting for a moonlight reincarnation ritual, led by the god-like Old Deuteronomy, and it all comes across as just spaced out. The music feels lost in the late 1970s with tinny electronica and rock guitars (as for the updated rap version of Rum Tum Tugger, it seems only polite to gloss over it). While admittedly catchy, the songs are reprised too frequently and the show feels desperate for praise. This is a score that should be rescued and put in front of the fire with a nice saucer of milk.

Until 2 January 2016

www.catsthemusical.com

Photos by Alessandro Pinna and Matt Crockett

“Memphis” at the Shaftesbury Theatre

Memphis was a success on Broadway, winning four Tony Awards, including the coveted Best Musical trophy. Now at the Shaftesbury Theatre, it’s easy to see why it was such a hit. One of those shows that wears its heart and soul on its sleeve, it is, in the cast’s joyous catchphrase, totally hockadoo!

Aspiring white disc jockey Huey, based on real-life radio pioneers in the 1950s, falls in love with black music and starts to make it mainstream. Huey’s career provides one story arc, with racial tensions abounding and exacerbated by a burgeoning love affair with the talented black singer Felicia. While simplistic, to its credit, Memphis doesn’t shy away from the realities of sexism or violence, giving the show plenty of dramatic tension.

The book by Joe DiPietro is tightly constructed and the themes inspirational enough to guarantee a thoughtful feelgood factor. The script has enough one-liners to inject humour and director Christopher Ashley’s efficiency produces a fast moving show that builds momentum nicely. Music is from former Bon Jovi star David Bryan. Sighs of relief that this is an original score (it could so easily have been another jukebox musical) but more impressively, that there are some great numbers. In keeping with the topic, the musical sources are broad; rock ’n’ roll, blues, gospel (my favourite) and a nice pop hit called ‘Someday’, which I bet you’ll be humming as you leave.

The set design by David Gallo is slick and the high-energy choreography by Sergio Trujillo thrilling. The gymnastic ensemble is vigorous and if some of the secondary roles could be fuller, in particular that of Huey’s mother who has an unconvincing comedy number, each performer embraces time in the spotlight as if they were in a stadium. This is a star vehicle; the story of Huey and Felicia so perfectly embodies the bigger themes, and in these roles Killian Donnelly and Beverley Knight shine.

cropmemphisinsert-credit-Johan-Persson
Killian Donnelly

The focus of the story is madcap MC, Huey, and Donnelly doesn’t waste a line, be it sung or spoken. He’s one of those performers who makes of virtue of showing how hard he is working, and we warm to him throughout. As for the luminous Knight, it’s hard to believe Memphis is only her second stage role. Each time she hustles on stage, starting to sing as soon as she can, the atmosphere is magnificent. Knight’s acting skill isn’t negligible – she can hold a big stage and that is hard – but she’s really there for the singing and her voice will make you want to visit Memphis more than once.

Booking until 31 October 2015

www.memphisthemusical.com

Photos by Johan Persson