Tag Archives: Edward Handoll

Abba Mania

★★★★

Shaftesbury Theatre

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Abba Mania

Abba Mania

Shaftesbury Theatre & UK Tour

Reviewed – 21st May 2021

★★★★

 

“the infectious atmosphere envelopes you and the bonhomie and banter sway in time to the backbeat”

 

Back in the heady hedonistic heyday of the early seventies, two young Swedish couples; Agnetha and Björn, and Benny and Anni-Frid, got together and embarked on an enterprise that would ruin both their marriages. But no matter, in the meantime they invented the Pop franchise, spawned a global industry of ‘tribute acts’, foresaw the jukebox musical, and thrust the music industry into the realms of multimedia and merchandise. They didn’t know this at the time, though, as they were busy with their in-fighting. But nevertheless, also creating a body of work that, nearly fifty years on, is still the soundtrack of people’s lives.

When the band broke up in 1982, it was decidedly ‘uncool’ to like ABBA. They were the biggest pop stars in the world. Yet while the musicians quietly stepped away from the limelight, the songs they created took on a life of their own. It is quite a phenomenon how the music has survived decades of cultural changes and artistic trends, ultimately uniting drag queens, housewives, hipsters, students and most in between.

“ABBA MANIA” is part of that legacy. Self-titled the number one touring ABBA tribute concert it swoops into the temporarily dark Shaftesbury Theatre to help re-open the West End with a party. Rule number one: if you’re invited to a gig like this, make sure your ‘plus one’ doesn’t stand you up, leaving you in the midst of an uninhibited (socially distanced) crowd and feeling like the sad, eccentric, dyed-in-the-wool fanatic, shyly tapping your feet whilst all around hips are swinging and arms are waving. At least I wasn’t wearing an anorak. But the infectious atmosphere envelopes you and the bonhomie and banter sway in time to the backbeat. “I thought I was coming to see Mamma Mia!”, a woman cries over the chorus – but not in the least disappointed. “I feel like I’m at a wedding in Manchester!” (whatever that means). “I f#@king love it… it’s so real”.

Is it real? The presentation of the numbers is spot on. Rhiannon Porter, JoJo Desmond, Edward Handoll and Loucas Hajiantoni take on the foursome with real panache and crowd-pleasing authority. We open with the Euro-conquering ‘Waterloo’, of course. Straight into ‘Voulez-Vous’ with added descant tipping its hat to ‘Moulin Rouge’, followed by all the favourites: ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’ complete with audience participation with the glissando ‘a-ha’s’; ‘Mamma Mia!’, ‘Take A Chance On Me’, ‘I Have A Dream’ (which always reminds of a Coca Cola advert), ‘’The Name Of The Game’… The solo numbers stand out. For example, the stripped back ‘I’ve Been Waiting For You’, or the soaring voice in ‘The Winner Takes It All’ – a gorgeous moment, even if it doesn’t quite pack the emotional punch of Meryl Streep crying to the Aegean Sea from a windswept Skopelos hilltop.

The singers’ inter-song repartee is limited to reminding us of where we are. Which is a shame as we want to forget. We are in a rainy night in Soho. However, the performers are giving us every ray of sunshine we can get. The party is in swing; ‘Gimme Gimme Gimme’ follows ‘Super Trouper’ which follows ‘S.O.S.’. With the opening riff to ‘Dancing Queen’, it’s time to turn round and start watching the crowd. Spirits and arms are in the air.

Then it’s all over. Almost. The band are in the wings counting the foot stomps before coming back on stage. This tribute act claims to replicate ABBA’s final ever gig. It does, and it doesn’t. It certainly captures the essence, but it is unthinkable that there is any finality about it. As they sing out with ‘Thank You For The Music’, it is we who are really thanking them – for keeping it all alive. Like ABBA’s music, this show will go on. It is irresistible, timeless, belt-out, feel-good.

 

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Mark Senior

 


Abba Mania

Shaftesbury Theatre until 6th June then UK Tour continues – visit abbamania.com for details

 

Reviewed this year by Jonathan:
Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Hung Parliament | ★★★★ | Online | February 2021
The Picture of Dorian Gray | ★★★★ | Online | March 2021
Bklyn The Musical | ★★★★★ | Online | March 2021
Remembering the Oscars | ★★★ | Online | March 2021
Disenchanted | ★★★ | Online | April 2021
Preludes in Concert |
You Are Here | ★★★★ | Southwark Playhouse | May 2021

 

Click here to see our most recent reviews

 

Big the Musical

Big the Musical

★★½

Dominion Theatre

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Big the Musical

Big the Musical

Dominion Theatre

Reviewed – 18th September 2019

★★½

 

“The book and score are entirely forgettable; the rhymes from a Hallmark card and devoid of wit or charm”

 

In 1996, eight years after the now legendary film, starring Tom Hanks, hit American screens, Big – The Musical premiered on Broadway. Nearly 25 years later, Morgan Young, director, choreographer and chief architect of this Dominion production, has finally realised his dream to bring it to the London stage. It has not aged well. Despite the inordinate amount of money clearly spent on this production, and a few very good performances, the whole show seems distinctly creaky, and slightly tawdry too, like a ride at a cheap fairground on which you slightly fear for your safety.

The story is that of 12 year old Josh Baskin (Jay McGuiness), who, sick of being small, makes a wish at a travelling carnival to be big, and wakes up in the morning with the body of a full-grown man. Fleeing from his terrified mother (Wendi Peters), who fails to recognise him, and with the aid of his best friend Billy (Jobe Hart in last night’s performance), he winds up in New York, where he rises to success at an ailing toy company owned by George MacMillan (Matthew Kelly), getting romantically entangled with Susan (Kimberley Walsh) along the way, before returning to his real age and his home. It’s a fairly slight tale, and the message, such as it is, is sentimental stuff – hang on to your childhood, don’t grow up too fast, and bring the honesty and playfulness of childhood into your adult life. Grown-ups get a pretty bad press in this fable all in all; the apogee of this being the dreadful yuppie dinner party in act two, in which, inexplicably, the supporting men appear to be dressed as versions of Alan Partridge. Sophisticated it isn’t; that quality being distinctly off-message it would appear.

The overall look of the show is disappointing, and the decision to use huge video screens as the centre piece of each scene is a mistake. It distracts from and deadens the action, and also, importantly, takes away from any attempt at intimacy. We are always at a big stadium gig, even in the show’s more tender moments, which serves them badly. The lighting doesn’t help either. All of which underlines the question continually in mind – ‘Why is this a musical?’. It feels like a musical by numbers because that’s exactly what it is. A traditional musical structure has been superimposed on a film narrative. And it doesn’t work. The book and score are entirely forgettable; the rhymes from a Hallmark card and devoid of wit or charm. The only moments to draw widespread audience laughter are in the spoken dialogue. Not a good sign.

The principals are well-cast and work hard. Jay McGuiness perfectly embodies the child-in-man Josh; Kimberley Walsh softens beautifully from power-dressed executive to the girl looking for love she so clearly is, and Matthew Kelly gives a tremendous turn as Macmillan. Wendi Peters is a consummate professional and lends performance oomph to a pretty scant role, but, as with the kids in the cast, she is of the strident MT singing style, which arguably runs counter to emotional depth. Jobe Hart did, however, stand out as Billy last night and most certainly has a musical theatre future. It’s a shame that all this professionalism serves such an underwhelming show.

Finally, it is more than disappointing to see an all-white adult chorus in a West End musical in 2019 (representing the working population of NEW YORK!), as it is to see the only transvestite/transexual character equated with the rotten underbelly of the city. Theatre at this level has no excuse not to do better.

 

Reviewed by Rebecca Crankshaw

Photography by Alastair Muir

 


Big the Musical

Dominion Theatre until 2nd November

 

Recent shows covered by this reviewer:

 

Bare: A Pop Opera | ★★★ | June 2019
Becoming The Invisible Woman | ★★ | June 2019
Three Sisters | ★★★★ | June 2019
Chiflón, The Silence of the Coal | ★★★★ | July 2019
Grey | ★★ | July 2019
Margot, Dame, The Most Famous Ballerina In The World | ★★★ | July 2019
Once On This Island | ★★★ | August 2019
The Weatherman | ★★★ | August 2019
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre – Programme A | ★★★★ | September 2019
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre – Programme C | ★★★★ | September 2019

 

Click here to see our most recent reviews