Edinburgh Neil Cooper
3 stars
Oh, brother. It’s the norm now for stage school wannabes to audition in front of several million viewers watching Saturday prime-time TV. Director/producer Bill Kenwright has managed to shoe-horn no less than three finalists from his Fame meets X-Factor talent show, Any Dream Will Do, into his latest touring franchise of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s early Sunday School extravaganza. The result is a smorgasbord of cash cow showbiz cynicism which, a couple of generations on from its 1968 debut, now looks like a prophecy come true.
With Tim and Andy now doyens of the establishment, this everyday tale of the spoilt kid with ideas above his station who makes it big saw them whisk the very first boy band from under God’s nose. How’s that for hippy capitalism in action? Also a steal is Lloyd Webber’s colonisation of every popular musical form going. French Chansons, Country hoe-downs and a very white Calypso are all given big licks, though Cat Stevens could probably sue for their appropriation of his own piece of family-based bubblegum, Matthew and Son, released in 1967.
The music’s marriage to Rice’s arch period lyrics is a hoot. The result, ‘Sha-la-la Joseph’ and all, is a charmingly ungroovy piece of cut-glass Home Counties naffness which even Rice doesn’t seem to be taking seriously.
A shame, then, that for all the energetic, fun-tastic delivery by a bright-eyed, well-drilled cast, the weakest link is local lad Craig Chalmers in the title role. If Kenwright wants to make a quick buck off performers who aren’t up to it, that’s his business. But if he thinks no-one’s going to notice, he should probably dream on.
The Herald, Devember 13th 2007
ends
3 stars
Oh, brother. It’s the norm now for stage school wannabes to audition in front of several million viewers watching Saturday prime-time TV. Director/producer Bill Kenwright has managed to shoe-horn no less than three finalists from his Fame meets X-Factor talent show, Any Dream Will Do, into his latest touring franchise of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s early Sunday School extravaganza. The result is a smorgasbord of cash cow showbiz cynicism which, a couple of generations on from its 1968 debut, now looks like a prophecy come true.
With Tim and Andy now doyens of the establishment, this everyday tale of the spoilt kid with ideas above his station who makes it big saw them whisk the very first boy band from under God’s nose. How’s that for hippy capitalism in action? Also a steal is Lloyd Webber’s colonisation of every popular musical form going. French Chansons, Country hoe-downs and a very white Calypso are all given big licks, though Cat Stevens could probably sue for their appropriation of his own piece of family-based bubblegum, Matthew and Son, released in 1967.
The music’s marriage to Rice’s arch period lyrics is a hoot. The result, ‘Sha-la-la Joseph’ and all, is a charmingly ungroovy piece of cut-glass Home Counties naffness which even Rice doesn’t seem to be taking seriously.
A shame, then, that for all the energetic, fun-tastic delivery by a bright-eyed, well-drilled cast, the weakest link is local lad Craig Chalmers in the title role. If Kenwright wants to make a quick buck off performers who aren’t up to it, that’s his business. But if he thinks no-one’s going to notice, he should probably dream on.
The Herald, Devember 13th 2007
ends
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