On location with Martin Kemp

 

Jonathan Baz and Martin Kemp

I spent a day on location with Martin Kemp, currently shooting his latest starring role in serial killer movie Doctor Plague.

Kemp stars as jaded detective John Verney who is on the trail of an ancient cult of Plague Doctors which is cutting a bloody swathe through the London underworld. Dismissed by his superiors as gang on gang killings, the murders draw Verney into an obsessive maze of a secret society conspiracy with links to the Jack The Ripper murders of 1888, putting him and his family in grave danger. Above is a first look.

Joining Kemp in the cast are Peter Woodward (Babylon 5), David Yip (A View To A Kill), Jeanine Nerissa Sothcott (Renegades), Wendy Glenn (You’re Next) and Daisy Beaumont (The World Is Not Enough).

Jonathan Sothcott produces for his indie genre studio Shogun Films (Helloween) with Ben Fortune directing. The screenplay is by Robert Dunn (Knightfall) based on an idea by Robert Geoffrey Hughes. Director of photography is James Westlake (Helloween). Executive producers include Jamie McLeod-Ross and Charley McDougall of Empire Studios, Nigel Smith and Keith Reilly.

Sothcott noted: “One of the best-loved and most recognisable faces in the UK, Martin Kemp has achieved a constant evolution of reinvention for new audiences in the last decade, but I’m delighted he’s back in front of the camera in this gritty horror serial killer movie, facing off against an instantly-iconic enemy and navigating a seemingly endless labyrinth of twists and turns. I know his legion of fans are going to love it and he’s backed by an exceptionally strong cast of terrific British actors. Doctor Plague has instant cult movie written all over it.”

Slated for release in the first half of 2025, look out for Doctor Plague. 

Million Dollar Quartet - Review

Royal Festival Hall, London


*****


Co-authored by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux
Directed by  Ian Talbot

The cast of Million Dollar Quartet

At the Royal Festival Hall over the Christmas season and then on tour, Million Dollar Quartet offers up some of the finest cuts of vintage rockabilly and rock n roll procured from some of the most legendary names in the history of music.

Inspired by the true story of the famed 1956 recording session where Sun Records’ Sam Phillips, brought together icons Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley, the show peels back the pages of the calendar. This was a time when the airwaves went from strictly black and white to Technicolor in a musical fusion ignited by some white guys playing black music in a way that had never been heard before. And it set the world in motion.

Phillips is played by Martin Kemp (of the 1980’s Spandau Ballet fame) who heads a remarkably talented cast. Martin Kaye’s reprisal of Jerry Lee Lewis is brilliant in both performance and music, oozing a charming yet hilarious southern charisma that brings a comedic element to the show alongside an electrifying piano ability.

Matthew Wycliffe embodies guitar virtuoso Carl Perkins both in performance and an uncanny visual resemblance, delivering tenfold with his solo riffs on the guitar.

Robbie Durham does a great job as the Man in Black, bringing some sweet signature guitar mannerisms and playing styles, as Ross William Wild takes on the hefty task of playing the King. Making all the right moves, Wild also takes time to offer a touch of vulnerability, showing a side to Elvis that is not often portrayed.  

The show includes more than 20 legendary rock ‘n’ roll hits, including Blue Suede Shoes, Hound Dog, I Walk The Line and Great Balls of Fire. Whilst celebrating the talents of the on stage characters Million Dollar Quartet also respectfully tips its hat to their fellow southern musicians and African American contemporaries including Little Walter and Chuck Berry who were recording north of the Mason Dixon line at Chicago’s Chess Records. 

A juke box musical maybe – but Million Dollar Quartet is quite simply a stunningly performed tribute to a pivotal episode in the history of rock n roll.

See it before Elvis leaves the building!

Runs until 2nd January 2017, then tours. Tour dates here.

Reviewed by Josh Kemp (no relation...)