Vampires Rock

Darlington Civic Theatre    

Friday 29^th & Saturday 30^th January

The auditorium of Darlington Civic Theatre was packed to the rafters on Friday evening for the first of two sell-out performances of Steve Steinman’s cult classic, Vampires Rock.

Set in New York in the year 2030, the undead are among us and livelier than ever. A young girl named Pandora (Emily Clark) has skipped school to attend an audition to be the resident rock singer at the Live and Let Die Club. There she encounters Baron Von Rockula (Steinman), who instantly falls in love with her and becomes determined that she should become his new bride – shame he didn’t bother to consult his current Devil Queen (Toyah Willcox) who is none too impressed with the idea.

Ostensibly, Vampires Rock is The Rocky Horror Show for hot-blooded heterosexual hairy bikers and heavy metal heads. More vamp than camp, more gothy than frothy, the show uses its storyline – which is as translucent as a vampires skin in the midday sun – to string together some of the greatest rock anthems of all time. They’re all in there, from ‘Killer Queen’ to ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’, ‘The Final Countdown’ to ‘Bat out of Hell.’

Steinman, Willcox and Clark all delivered stunning vocal performances and backed by a five-piece band, whose acoustics almost lifted the roof right off the grand old theatre, they really whipped the crowd up into a frenzy.

The shortcomings of the storyline are compensated by the energy and enthusiasm that the entire cast put into the show which, ultimately, is what makes Vampires Rock a great night out!

Steve Burbridge.

What a superb production this is! It makes murder, corruption, adultery and cheating look positively attractive!

Since its New York revival in 1996 Chicago has become the longest-running musical to play in the West End: a sure sign of its popularity. As a result there have been a number of touring productions, both good and not so good.
I suggest this particular cast makes this production one of the best of recent times. It must consist of some of the best looking actors currently on stage in the UK. Sure, the girls in this show have always been fabulous, long-legged, strong, sassy and sexy, but the boys this time – good heavens – they are clearly in the gym when not on stage – all abs, pecs and biceps, not to mention the lower halves! They certainly earned plenty of wolf-whistles of appreciation from the audience throughout the evening. Every member of the Company give their all throughout the evening and are completely convincing in their characterisations.

The choreography is sharp and tight (the original re-created by Gary Chryst) and the musical interpretation by Garth Hall exhilarating and performed impeccably and with great verve by the 10 piece orchestra, who are centre stage throughout and incidentally got the longest and loudest round of applause.

The billing has Marti Pellow as the main attraction. He has carved out a theatre career of late and his voice and stage presence are well suited to the part of Billy Flynn.



Whilst he is excellent, and taking nothing away from him, the outstanding performances are really from Emma Barton (ex-Eastender Honey) as Roxie Hart and Twinnie-Lee Moore as Velma Kelly.

Barton is a revelation but shouldn’t be. Looking at her experience she has plenty of theatre under her belt and was completely at home singing – what a gorgeous rich, full voice - and dancing. She is utterly hilarious as the conniving, flirtatious Roxie. Perfect!

Moore is one to watch. She does not have a great deal of experience being only 22 but you would never know this from her extraordinary performance. She is captivating, self assured and doubtlessly talented. I couldn’t take my eyes off her when she was on stage and her opening number ‘All That Jazz’ introduces her in fitting style. She is stylish and sophisticated, has superb comic timing and the stage presence of a real star. Someone to keep an eye on I have no doubt.

Matron (Wendy-Lee Purdy) it is fair to say suffers from comparison to Queen Latifah’s performance in the 2002 Rob Marshall film. It’s unfortunate but inevitable.

Amos (Adam Stafford), Roxie’s rather straight and trusting husband, was a clear favourite with the audience, particularly after Stafford’s superbly sensitive and touching performance of ‘Mister Cellophane’.

This is a sexy, strong, superb production of Chicago and very well worth booking tickets for. If you have always fancied it and never got round to it this production is the one to see.

Chicago plays MK Theatre Monday 25 –Saturday 30 January. MK box office 0844 871 7652 (Booking Fee)

Then on tour

February 1 – 6, Charter Theatre, Preston

February 8 – 13, Theatre Royal, Newcastle

February 16 – 27, The Mayflower, Southampton

Louise Winter on behalf or Catherine Brian 

Aren’t we all a work in progress – a kaleidoscope?

Second Skin Theatre presents a double bill exploring the nature of truth, honesty, the dark secrets within us and their impact upon who we are and who we love. Aptly directed by Andy McQuade, the two plays delve into a world of human longing, transgender sexuality, lost love, and the basic need to be held tight.

Stay With Me Til Dawn is an intense and disturbing play. Graham Farrow weaves a black tale of lonely men and missing children, where guilt and innocence become an indistinguishable grey area. The play began as a rehearsed reading as part of the Branching Out 3 season and has since been developed through a collaboration between director and playwright. Redford, a middle-aged man, is accused by gossip and hearsay of being a paedophile. He returns home, once again with a bloodied nose and cut face, to find a boy hiding in his flat. The boy has fled to him from his violent father who had advised him that Redford „liked young boys“ and he now seeks love and understanding from the lonely man. Soon thereafter, the boy’s father arrives to make enquiries about two 10-year old boys who have been missing. He immediately employs force to get his answers: events now begin to twist and turn as the real truth of Redford’s past is revealed. Peter Glover gives an outstanding performance as the sympathetic loner, David Swain and Matthew Haigh convincingly play the son and his abusive father. This production is not for the squeamish.    

Knuckleball by William Whitehurst, the winner of the awards for „Best Drama“ and „Best Production“ at the San Francisco Fringe Festival now arrives for its London premiere. A knuckleball, in baseball terms, is a pitch with an erratic, unpredictable motion. The pitch is thrown so as to minimize the spin of the ball in flight to throw the batter off guard and making a strike. In William Whitehurst’s intriguing play the working class bloke Ross proposes to his classy lover Trish right after they had passionate sex. Trish desperately wants to say yes, but cannot. Ross won’t take no for an answer—she must either marry him or explain why she won’t. Trish tells Ross an extraordinary tale about who—and what—she really is. But is she telling the truth? In this emotionally charged production the charismatic Laura Pradelska plays Trish and Bryan Kaplan repeats his role as the confused and touching Ross.

19 January – 7 February 2010, Tue – Fri 7.30 pm, 7.00 Sat and Sun

Tickets: £ 12 / £ 10 (concessions)

BOX OFFICE: 020 7704 6665

The Rosemary Branch, 2 Shepperton Road, London N1 3DT

Dirty Dusting

The Customs House, South Shields

Until 30 January

Since it premiered in February 2003, Dirty Dusting has enjoyed sell-out runs all over the world and played to hundreds of thousands of people. Now the smash-hit comedy, penned by Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood, has made a triumphant return to the venue that launched it as part of the Customs House’s 15^th anniversary celebration season.

When Gladys, Elsie and Olive discover that they are to be unceremoniously dumped from their cleaning duties as part of a ‘rationalisation’ process in the office block where they work they decide to put their final weekend to good use and boost their pay-offs in the process. A series of ‘wrong number’ dirty phone calls inspires them to set up a phone sex line – The Telephone Belles.

Jean Southern, Gwen Doran and Helen Russell reprise their original roles and deliver their performances with an attack and gusto that belies the fact that the trio have a combined age of 250! Their comedy timing is absolutely spot-on and they don’t miss a single opportunity to shine. Bob Stott, as their bullying boss, Dave, grabs his role with both hands and relentlessly wrings the laughs from it, without ever upstaging the ladies.

Waugh and Wood’s script sparkles with wit and wonderful one-liners and you are almost afraid to laugh too long and loud at one for fear of missing the next. There are many times, though, when it is impossible not to. It is also testament to the skill of the partnership that moments of poignancy and pathos are intertwined with humour and hilarity, giving the girls some great material to work with and further endearing their characters to the audience.

Tickets for this side-splitting show aren’t lying round long enough to gather dust, so make sure you get yours before they are all cleaned out!

STEVE BURBRIDGE.

Clashes between siblings fascinate us, perhaps because we see in them the human urge to compete and succeed. 'The Price' centres round two brothers, one more successful than the other, just like 'The Man Who Had All The Luck', the Arthur Miller play John Dove directed at the Lyceum this time last year, and it makes for spell-binding theatre, every moment bristling with tension.

When their father dies, estranged brothers Victor and Walter are forced together to price the family furniture. Despite pressure from his wife to haggle with the dealer, Victor accepts the old man's first offer, perhaps taking pity on him, as he did with his own father. But just before the money changes hands, the wealthier brother, Walter, arrives unexpectedly, bargains for a better price and even offers Victor a job. The only problem is that Walter's bargaining skills and generosity not only show Victor up in front of his wife, they also add insult to the injury of perceived greivances from the past.

Indeed there is no getting away from old scores that need to be settled and the sense of being trapped by family history is reflected in the claustrophobic set. Antiques are precariously stacked in an intricate and fascinating design, while a long-silent harp and empty chair serve as ghostly reminders of the brothers' dead parents.

Just as the antiques are piled high like over-lapping memories so Miller cleverly layers up our understanding of their family history. The brothers exchange fragments of their past but, as soon as we believe one version of events, another slant on them threatens to undermine our first take. This sense of competing points of view is something Victor himself experiences as his long-held convictions that Walter is to be demonised and their father idolised are suddenly called into question.

The notion of clearing away the layers of denial to get to reality is alluded to in a particularly entertaining speech  by the old furniture dealer, Solomon. He explains that people don't like to buy antique furniture because its durability doesn't allow the owner the subsequent distraction of shopping for replacements. Instead the permanence of antique furniture forces people to face facts, as the brothers realise all too well.

While Solomon has some of the most profound lines in the play he also provides a great deal of light relief and James Hayes' performance is a real treat for the audience.

Taking things lightly is also a theme of the play, as one of Victor's problems is taking life too seriously and not being able to trust anyone. Just like David Beeves in 'The Man Who Had All The Luck' so Victor has trouble taking the good fortune being offered to him at face value.

When it comes to comparing 'The Price' with last year's Miller play directed by Dove, 'The Man Who Had All The Luck' was a thought-provoking piece of theatre, impressively performed, but 'The Price' surpasses it in terms of audience engagement, perhaps because it focuses instead on the less successful brother  and we find ourselves very involved in Victor's struggle, willing him to take Walter's offer and succeed despite his past. We feel as infuriated with Victor as his wife does, to witness Walter believing in his younger brother but having difficulty convincing Victor of his own self-worth. The question is, will Victor have the confidence to let go of the past and take up Walter's offer? Will he have the courage to value himself highly enough?

Indeed despite 'The Price' being about two brothers, one more successful than the other, Walter believes their bond goes deeper than their sibling rivalry and the play instead invites us to reflect on the value we are prepared to put on ourselves. Powerful, poignant stuff. 

Felicity Thomson

'The Price'  by Arthur Miller, directed by John Dove
The Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
15th  January- 13th February 2010