Barrioke - Review

Between The Bridges, London

*****

Shaun Williamson

When “Like A Baz Out Of Hell” is a show's Meatloaf (and Baz) inspired strapline, it becomes nigh-on inexcusable for this (Jonathan) Baz not to rock up at the latest London date on this event's hectically packed tour calendar.

But what IS Barrioke? Well, many years ago the actor Shaun Williamson played Barry in the TV soap opera EastEnders. Barry was a lovable rogue who, followers of the soap will recall, met an untimely end when he was pushed off a cliff by Janine, the femme fatale and love of his life.

However, while Barry from Albert Square may be sadly mourned, in a stroke of showbiz genius Williamson has exhumed the character from the vaults, to tour these islands delivering the classiest karaoke gig imaginable. Barry...Karaoke...Barrioke...geddit???

Back in 2004 Williamson took on Meatloaf’s mantle in Celebrity Stars In Their Eyes and as he opens the current show cosplaying the legendary American singer and belting out You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth he sets the evening off to a cracking start. For 90 minutes, and to audiences that can be up to a 1,000-strong, Williamson curates and comperes an evening of perfectly selected bangers that sees game volunteers lining up to sing their favourites, while the packed beer and cocktail-fuelled throng join in. Big screens ensure that everyone knows the words, with Barrioke proving the antithesis of a traditional West End show. At a typical musical, mobile phones and singing along are strictly forbidden (and rightly so). Here it is cameras at the ready and everyone singing along all evening - bliss!

More than just your ordinary karaoke gig, Williamson and his team know how to put together a playlist that keeps the joint jumping. A quiet word from the management suggested that my choice of a Barry (Manilow, that is) ballad may be too downbeat for the evening - so I swiftly switched to my reserve party piece of Tom Jones’s Delilah. Full disclosure, it is time for Jonathan Baz to declare an interest in this gig's five-star rating, for so it was, that when my name was called, I stepped up to the stage, Williamson’s manager Adele Seager videoing my every move, and sung my heart out with passion (if not, ahem, with talent).

Barry and Baz

Bright lights, a haze machine, and with the red sparkling jacketed Barry singing alongside, what’s not to love?? Readers, I tell you, it was one of my most enjoyable evenings on London’s South Bank in very many years!

The craic at Barrioke is off the scale. Just go!

For Barrioke tour dates click here

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Review

New Wimbledon Theatre, London


****


Written by Ian Fleming
Music & lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman
Directed by James Brining

Lee Mead and Carrie Hope Fletcher

There's an aura of timeless quality that pervades the touring production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, currently in its second week at Wimbledon. Ian Fleming's wonderfully imaginative tale, so quintessentially English, married to the universal appeal of the Sherman Brothers' songs has made for a 20th century fairy tale that ranks alongside the classics.

Notwithstanding it being a warm July evening, the New Wimbledon theatre was filled by a generation-straddling audience. And in a production that makes intelligent use of projected graphics, there's a wholesome accessibility to the tour that makes it both affordable and reachable across the country - a pleasing contrast to the eye-watering ticket prices of so many West End shows.

The current cast are a delight. Lee Mead is the handsome widowered single dad - getting by with his crackpot inventions and instilling in his kids a decent sense of right and wrong and above all a belief in the power of imagination - and in that way, much like Peter Pan, a good production of Chitty (and this is a very good production) can speak to the child in all of us. Mead has his faithful following, but his take on Caractacus Potts' signature melodies (Hushabye Mountain, poignantly enhanced by the appearance of his late wife) is powerful and assured.

Opposite Mead, Carrie Hope Fletcher is Truly Scrumptious and who in a real life tale of theatrical romance was herself the young Jemima Potts when the stage show first opened at the London Palladium. As ever, Fletcher brings an ethereal charm to the role. Exquisite vocals - and what a delight to see the movie's Lovely Lonely Man, a song dropped from the stage show until now, restored (albeit now set in the Toymaker's workshop) to the libretto. And of course her doll impersonation with immaculate robotics and enchanting lyrics in Doll On A Music Box is as faultless as one might expect.

Stephen Mear's choreography gorgeously enhances the piece, with his work on the larger routines (The Bombie Samba and some fun tap work in Me Ol' Bamboo particularly excellent) being perfectly drilled visual treats. But it is his styling of (Matt Gillett as) the Childcatcher's entrapment of the Potts kids, that so evokes Robert Helpmann's terrifying cameo in the movie, and further defines Mear's remarkable calibre.

The supporting cast add just enough pantomime to the mix. Andy Hockley is a convincing Grandpa Potts and there's some well performed comic bungling from Sam Harrison and Scott Paige as Boris and Goran the Vulgarian spies. And it's an Albert Square dream team that currently pairs Shaun Wlliamson opposite Michelle Collins (both comic and talented actors par excellence) as the Baron and Baroness Bombast. And when one recalls that Chitty was written long before Britain joined the EEC (the EU's precursor) - there's almost a hint of wise prescience in Fleming's writing: Bombast for Juncker? Stranger things....

But as a familiar, family escape from some ghastly world affairs there's truly nothing better than this show. Down in the pit Andrew Hilton's orchestra make fine work of the Shermans' ditties, whilst onstage (and to use the vernacular) that iconic, fantasmagorical car - and yes, it really does fly - will have the kids wide-eyed in awe. The spontaneous standing ovation at the curtain call spoke volumes. Just go!

At Wimbledon until 30th July, then continuing on tour

Train Driver Baz Joins The Railway Children

Slow down Mr Baz!

We all know that moment in The Railway Children….there’s been a landslide, the track is strewn with rocks and rubble that can only spell disaster for the train we can hear approaching in the distance. In the book it is gripping, whilst in Lionel Jefferies’ acclaimed movie the moment is almost terrifying. And now, thanks to the ingenuity of the National Railway Museum, Mike Kenny and Damian Cruden the spectacle is being brought to life for real in a theatre built on a reclaimed good yard near Kings Cross, as 80 tons of genuine steam train emerges, amid billows of smoke and the screeching of brakes.

So how can such a pivotal event in our nation's culture become even more exciting? Simple. You get a chance to drive the actual train!

I’ve loved trains forever and especially steam trains. So when Ben Hewis of WhatsOnStage.com, late one evening last year tweeted a request for #StageyBucketList suggestions, it only took a moment, sprawled across a sofa at home and helped by the whisky I was sipping, to promptly tweet back that given half a chance I’d love to drive the train in The Railway Children (or @TRCKingsCross as the production is called on Twitter).

Ten minutes later my phone pinged and I almost (but thankfully didn’t) spilt my scotch in surprise. It was @TRCKingsCross, tweeting back a reply and saying that they could make my wish come true!

And so it was that I found myself on the footplate of that marvellous engine, awaiting my cue to steam into the auditorium. The excitement was building, the smoke was built up back stage so that the train emerged through billowing clouds – and then, with a jolt, we were off. Lit by the orange glow of the engine’s roaring fire and with the actors on the track in front, waving desperately for me to stop the train, I desperately strived to bring this massive, beautiful machine to a brake-screeching halt. Just in time….

Stationmaster Shaun Williamson with his rookie driver

It wasn’t just the excitement of driving the train in the show though. The glimpse behind the scenes at Kings Cross was fascinating. There was Alison and Dominique in the wardrobe department who had miraculously assembled a costume that fitted me perfectly. The warm welcome of the cast who took my awestruck amateur dramatics into their bosom  and made me feel so welcome, especially the show’s regular train drivers who showed this novice just what to do. And in act two, when I was a passenger on the train, thank you Connie Hyde, who guided a terrified first-timer (me) to exactly where I had to sit and walk for the show’s Finale.

Shaun Williamson who currently leads the cast as Mr Perks was a delight and a special thanks to resident director Michael Vivian who patiently took me through a crash course (literally) in train driving, telling me where I needed to be and when.

To be invited backstage of any show is a treat, to take a peek into that world of make believe where a theatre company create their stories. But to cross the line and, for one fabulous night only, to actually become a part of that magical process we call “theatre” was, quite simply a privilege and a night I shall never forget.

A massive thank you to everyone at The Railway Children. I was chuffed!

The company of The Railway Children with their new driver

PS Before you think that letting me loose at the train’s controls was a reckless failure of health and safety by the producers, let me assure you that the technology and safety processes - and just a hint of theatre magic too - in place at the Kings Cross Theatre ensure that at all times the show's audience, cast and crew remain completely safe.

The Railway Children is now booking at the Kings Cross Theatre until 10th April 2016

Read my original review of the show 

Photography (lower two pictures) by Michael Curtis

Top picture by Johan Persson

Love Me Tender – Review

Churchill Theatre, Bromley 

****

Based on the book by Joe DiPietro

Directed by Karen Bruce

Love Me Tender's Ensemble

Based on the music of Elvis Presley, Love Me Tender is a juke-box musical that tells several love stories at the same time and all set in “a small town no-one’s ever heard of in the middle of nowhere.” We’re introduced to its inhabitants who are resigned to a life of enforced conservatism and where frivolities such as music, dancing and "public necking" are all forbidden - until the arrival of Ben Lewis’ Chad, an Elvis-esque roustabout to shake things up. 

At times the story verges on the ridiculous, particularly in the second half when the plot races desperately towards a conclusion that reconciles eight characters' love stories. Yet it's not entirely formulaic. There is an element of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night thrown into the mix, as Natalie (Laura Tebbutt) masquerades as Ed which in turn delivers a surprising and pleasing splash of female empowerment as she exercises a choice that utilises the confidence and freedom she found as Ed.

The cast led by Mica Paris and Shaun Williamson is incredibly strong across the board, with several standout singers including Tebbutt and Mark Anderson ensuring that the production is not overly reliant on the big hitters. Though when Paris takes the stage for her solo, the effect is one of awe; her voice is truly incredible. 

The musical arrangements are well done and rock and roll is neatly packaged up for the theatre. The choreography (Karen Bruce and Elliot Nixon) captures the retro vibe while injecting it with a dose of the contemporary. 

Morgan Large’s set design is complex and ambitious, but the risks more than pay off. There are also several memorable and comic human set fixtures, such as two ranch-style doors held by two actors, which swing open and shut to mark the entrances and exits of several characters. 

Although the main focus of the story is love's ability to conquer all, the cheesiness is often offset by lots of clever wit and dry humour, delivered with perfect comic timing. 

At Bromley this week, before heading out on tour – Love Me Tender makes for a fabulous night in the theatre!

Guest reviewer: Bhakti Gajjar