June 5, 2006
Ben Elton, co-writer of hits as diverse as The Young Ones and Blackadder 2, has seamlessly sewn several dozen (give or take another dozen) of Rod Stewart's greatest songs into a lighthearted fairytale musical. Featuring loves lost and found - and souls searched, sold, and swapped - Tonight's the Night musically and metaphorically rocks. The live band is phenomenal.
The cast must sleep twenty-two hours in preparation for each two-hour performance; from the moment the curtain raises, calories are flamboyantly burned. I lost weight watching them waltzing across stage and singing like... well, singing like Rod Stewart.
Men will be enthralled by recurring appearance of an ultra-feminine leather-clad devil who switches the soul of our hero (the hopelessly shy Stu Clutterbuck) with that of the hopelessly cool Rod Stewart. Women will be pleased both by the numerous Rod puns and by Stu (provocatively attired, and now with Rod's soul) conditionally imploring, "if you think I'm sexy and you want my body, come on baby let me know." This all amidst an amazing set design and a plot featuring a love square - or, depending on one's definition of love, even a love hexagon!
Suppose you slept through the 80s. Suppose you couldn't go through a lineup and pick out Rod Stewart's mullet. Luckily for us, Rod's songs transcend hairstyle and span four decades; you will, most definitely, recognise (and even voluntarily sing along with) songs like The First Cut is the Deepest and Maggie May.
As if all this weren't enough to spur you into the ticket line, free sailor hats are dispensed at the interval to aid in the rendition of Sailing. Just remember what a staff member kindly informed me as I rushed back to my seat, hat hastily applied: "don't put the pointy bit in front- you look like you work in a chip shop."
The cast must sleep twenty-two hours in preparation for each two-hour performance; from the moment the curtain raises, calories are flamboyantly burned. I lost weight watching them waltzing across stage and singing like... well, singing like Rod Stewart.
Men will be enthralled by recurring appearance of an ultra-feminine leather-clad devil who switches the soul of our hero (the hopelessly shy Stu Clutterbuck) with that of the hopelessly cool Rod Stewart. Women will be pleased both by the numerous Rod puns and by Stu (provocatively attired, and now with Rod's soul) conditionally imploring, "if you think I'm sexy and you want my body, come on baby let me know." This all amidst an amazing set design and a plot featuring a love square - or, depending on one's definition of love, even a love hexagon!
Suppose you slept through the 80s. Suppose you couldn't go through a lineup and pick out Rod Stewart's mullet. Luckily for us, Rod's songs transcend hairstyle and span four decades; you will, most definitely, recognise (and even voluntarily sing along with) songs like The First Cut is the Deepest and Maggie May.
As if all this weren't enough to spur you into the ticket line, free sailor hats are dispensed at the interval to aid in the rendition of Sailing. Just remember what a staff member kindly informed me as I rushed back to my seat, hat hastily applied: "don't put the pointy bit in front- you look like you work in a chip shop."