Tag Archives: Joel Harper-Jackson

QUEEN BY CANDLELIGHT

★★★★

UK Tour

QUEEN BY CANDLELIGHT

London Palladium

★★★★

“stirring, faithful and poignant”

Two questions immediately spring to mind. The first is: why candlelight? Why does the stage of the London Palladium have the appearance of a Guns N’ Roses video dressed as it is with hundreds of flickering (albeit artificial) flames.

There is an answer, but it is attached to a story so more on that later.

The second more pressing question is: how on earth are you supposed to replace or replicate one of the greatest frontmen in rock history, a man of splendid pomp and quite remarkable vocal dexterity?

The answer is 13.

That’s how many Freddie Mercurys there are in this stirring, faithful and poignant tribute to the music of Queen.

All 13 – including four women to account for his operatic range – are rip-roaring West End quality singers, and each has a moment in the spotlight. And then occasionally they come together in a sort of Mercury clone chorus, as if to suggest that 13 quasi-Freddies is the only way to do justice to the majesty of the original.

And in case you’re checking the exchange rate, two guitarists are the equivalent of one Brian May, but John Deacon and Roger Taylor have parity, one for one. In addition, there are keyboards and strings which add drama to some of Queen’s more swelling songs, such as Who Wants To Live Forever? (Thousands of rheumy eyes prickling with tears over lost youths and lost lives.)

And in answer to the candlelight question, the original core troupe was launched to create work for musicians affected by Covid-19. The production was one of the first shows to be staged after lockdown and the only venues available were churches, hence the candles.

Since then, the show has been performed over 300 times including at St Paul’s Cathedral (completing the church loop) and Carnegie Hall, New York.

There was an overabundance of self-congratulation throughout the evening – we were forever being urged to applaud every wail and lick – but that’s OK. Production company Kinda Dusty made it to the Palladium. They have a right to be a little pleased with themselves.

Back to the music, to the anthems, to a back catalogue so stuffed with classics that choosing what stays and what goes must have been a nightmare. Look, here comes another stormer: Somebody To Love, and another, the ridiculously gorgeous Days Of Our Lives. Killer Queen. Don’t Stop Me Now. The Show Must Go On (that last pair having a certain urgency as the show was halted for a medical emergency in the audience). I Want To Break Free. A stripped down Love Of My Life.

And then, on our feet for We Are The Champions, Radio Ga Ga (“let’s see those hands”). You find yourself smiling. Maybe you didn’t mean to smile, weren’t in the mood to smile, but there it is anyway: the smile.

Finally, the massed ranks of Mercurys with accompanying Palladium chorus, come together for a rousing and inevitable Bohemian Rhapsody to mark its 50th birthday.

Even without the real thing, it’s a kind of magic.



QUEEN BY CANDLELIGHT

London Palladium

Reviewed on 8th April 2025

by Giles Broadbent

Photography by Matt Young

 

 


 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

FIGARO: AN ORIGINAL MUSICAL | ★★ | February 2025
HELLO, DOLLY! | ★★★★ | July 2024
THE ADDAMS FAMILY A MUSICAL COMEDY – LIVE IN CONCERT | ★½ | February 2024
TRUE TALES OF SEX, SUCCESS AND SEX AND THE CITY | ★★★½ | February 2024
DEATH NOTE – THE MUSICAL IN CONCERT | ★★★★ | August 2023

QUEEN BY CANDLELIGHT

QUEEN BY CANDLELIGHT

QUEEN BY CANDLELIGHT

STANDING AT THE SKY’S EDGE

★★★★★

Gillian Lynne Theatre

STANDING AT THE SKY’S EDGE at the Gillian Lynne Theatre

★★★★★

“it is beautiful, and moving, and has real grit”

Standing at the Sky’s Edge is an unabashed love letter to Sheffield. It follows three generations of residents in Park Hill, the infamous brutalist 1960s former housing estate which dominates the Sheffield skyline. Each story seethes with the unfairness of the treatment of the residents, but the play as a whole is full of joy and hope.

To call it a musical feels inaccurate, it is a play with music. Writer Chris Bush has structured the play around the music of Richard Hawley, perhaps best known as former guitarist for Pulp, and as such sometimes the songs feel incongruous, but often serve to energise and buoy up the mood.

We follow three sets of Park Hill residents, across three timelines. There is Harry (Joel Harper-Jackson) the youngest ever foreman at the steel factory, and his wife Rose, (Rachael Wooding) who move in as thrilled former slum dwellers in 1960. Then in 1989 the same flat sees the arrival of Joy (Elizabeth Ayodele), Grace (Sharlene Hector) and George (Baker Mukasa) who have fled Liberia hoping for a better life. Joy’s doubts about this new home are softened as she forms an incredibly sweet bond with local boy Jimmy (Samuel Jordan). Finally in 2015 Poppy (Laura Pitt-Pulford) has bought the flat, but, having moved up from London by herself, she struggles to find the sense of community she has been hoping for.

As with all multi-generational stories, there will be ones that are more engaging. The London audience responded well to Poppy’s story, chortling at her doubt that Henderson’s Relish would enhance her Ottolenghi dish. Personally, I found Poppy’s story quite painful to watch, especially when her troubled romance is set against such legitimate struggles. However, that is the point. The play doesn’t shy away from questions of privilege, and struggle being relative. Richard Hawley tells that after a preview to only former and current Park Hill residents, a former resident shook the hand of one of the gentrifying new wave, and invited them to the pub. It is a play which bridges divides and fosters empathy.

“Ben Stones’ set is astonishing”

Robert Hastie’s direction intertwines these stories, so they never feel separate and isolated. One scene sees everyone having dinner, passing around the Henderson’s Relish, emphasising the idea at the core of this play – all of these very different people have lived their lives in this one flat.

The cast is enormous, and extremely talented. Particular standouts are Rachael Wooding as practical and pragmatic Rose, Samuel Jordan as Jimmy, both lovesick and revolutionary, and Lauryn Redding as Nikki, Poppy’s bold and bolshy ex-girlfriend.

Ben Stones’ set is astonishing, building an on-stage version of Park Hill, complete with the famous ‘I love you, will u marry me’ graffiti. There is a maze of levels, and the band peek out from within the brutalist jungle. Mark Henderson’s lighting design is vibrant and exciting, especially in the musical numbers. Ben Stones’ costume design is also thoughtfully evoked, especially to show the passing of time in these tangled lives.

There are parts of this production which don’t quite land. For example, an awkwardly poetic narrator, who brings a pomposity to a play which thrives in its earnest realism.

But it is beautiful, and moving, and has real grit, without being impossibly bleak.


STANDING AT THE SKY’S EDGE at the Gillian Lynne Theatre

Reviewed on 28th February 2024

by Auriol Reddaway

Photography by Brinkhoff Moegenburg

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE LEHMAN TRILOGY | ★★★★★ | February 2023
THE LION, THE WITCH & THE WARDROBE | ★★★★★ | July 2022
CINDERELLA | ★★★★★ | August 2021

STANDING AT THE SKY’S EDGE

STANDING AT THE SKY’S EDGE

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