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Tarantino Live

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Riverside Studios

TARANTINO LIVE at the Riverside Studios

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Tarantino Live

β€œFrom the prologue to the epilogue the atmosphere is quite electric.”

 

Most of us live in the real universe most of the time. For over thirty years now, Quentin Tarantino has led us intermittently into the β€˜realer than real’ universe. There are similarities, and connections to real-life sources but everything is β€œmore”. Exaggerated, graphic, stylised, violent. The unreal becomes reality, and vice versa. Most of us have dipped – or dived – into (at varying depths) the Tarantino Cinematic Universe and emerged with the soundtrack still swimming around our heads. The films make us listen to the music in a different way. β€œTarantino Live” takes the songs and brings them to life once more in a stunning, genre-defying, mash-up, immersive rock musical.

Woven into this bold, full-throated rock concert is the iconic Tarantino dialogue. It doesn’t matter in the slightest whether you’re a die-hard fan, or completely unfamiliar with the films; what unfolds before your eyes, and ears, will make you look at theatre in a different way. Most of the music stems from the era of vinyl but the structure of the show is built around the modern concept of the playlist. Split into chapters rather than scenes there is no chronological logic. The points of view, close ups, wide angles, jump cuts and crossfades are scattered around the studio like gunfire. The action takes place on the stage as well as around us and amongst us. It is relentless but we can’t get enough.

It’s full title, β€œTarantino Live: Fox Force Five & The Tyranny of Evil Men”, loosely sums up the concept. The β€˜Fox Force Five’ comprise a group of superwomen made up of five of Tarantino’s most iconic female characters as they take on the β€˜Tyranny of Evil Men’ in a battle of revenge. The concept gets swept aside, however, by the sheer power and skill of the vocal performances. To single anyone out would be merely to reel off the entire cast list, just as to attempt to match the actors with the characters would be like trying to follow a chaotic medley of accelerated rolling credits. It is possible, but my word count advises against it. Needless to say, the talent on display is so much more than a triple threat. The lines between orchestra and cast, lead and ensemble, actor, singer, dancer, musician are blurred.

The disciplines are brought together seamlessly, the show having evolved over the last decade. β€˜For The Record’, led by adapter and director Anderson Davis with associate director and choreographer Sumie Maeda, launched the show at The Bourbon Room, a small bar on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles in 2010. Immediately a β€˜must see’ cabaret show, it was awarded the seal of approval from Tarantino himself, and along the way has been adapted in response to each new addition to Tarantino’s canon of work.

From the prologue to the epilogue the atmosphere is quite electric. It is simultaneously like a roller coaster ride but also not. It’s not Hollywood, nor film, nor musical theatre, nor rock gig. Yet it is all of those. It throws in the air different scenes from different movies, but when they land there is a kind of beginning and middle and end. But even if it doesn’t make sense – from the prologue to the epilogue we are transfixed. Motionless while our heads spin. And we could go on the journey again and again. It is a must, whether you’re a Tarantino geek or if you’ve never seen a Tarantino film in your life. At least you’ll be familiar with the (thirty-plus) classic songs. But not in this context.

Unlike anything you’ll come across in London at the moment, β€œTarantino Live” is, in a nutshell, theatre with attitude.

 

Reviewed on 27th June 2023

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Julie Edwards

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

 

Killing The Cat | β˜…β˜… | March 2023
Cirque Berserk! | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | February 2023
David Copperfield | β˜…β˜…β˜… | February 2023
A Level Playing Field | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | February 2022
The Devil’s in the Chair | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | February 2022

 

Click here to read all our latest reviews

 

The Simon & Garfunkel Story
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Lyric Theatre

The Simon & Garfunkel Story

The Simon & Garfunkel Story

Lyric Theatre

Reviewed – 29th April 2019

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β€œthe musicianship is excellent, and it’s quite a phenomenal showcase of ability”

 

It’s been fifty years since Simon and Garfunkel were hitting the charts, but it seems their popularity has yet to wane, as can be seen with the ongoing demand for β€˜The Simon and Garfunkel Story’. Even after a sizeable run in London last year and a world tour following that, still, two months in to another season in London, a giddy full-house eagerly awaits.

New stars of the show, Adam Dickinson (Paul Simon) and Kingsley Judd (Art Garfunkel) open with a perfect rendition of β€˜The Sound of Silence’. They share a fair likeness with their characters, and their silvery vocals harmonise beautifully so that if you closed your eyes you might just be fooled.

However, as soon as the first track finishes, we’re greeted with two very English accents, and a story told in the third person. It makes you wonder why they bothered with the costumes if suspension of disbelief was only going to come to a screeching halt five minutes in.

It’s a strange combination of production choices – Dickinson and Judd do at least sing with American accents, and both have appeared to study the mannerisms of their characters’ musical performances but as soon as each song is finished, they’re back to being two English lads. There’s no set besides a projector screen, and the β€˜story’ is mostly made up of geographical locations of both singers and the chronology of the music, told in cheesy gobbets between numbers.

The costumes change according to the era (Everly Brothers-style shirts and black ties are swapped for seventies polo necks, and then eighties blazers and t-shirts) but the effect is so minimal they may as well not have bothered – particularly as the rest of the band remain in their shirts and ties throughout.

That being said, the musicianship is excellent, and it’s quite a phenomenal showcase of ability. More than that, it’s a pleasure to see how much they’re enjoying the performance – the drummer (Mat Swales) sweetly mouths the words of nearly every song, and the bassist (Leon Camfield) emanates a contagious enthusiasm.

It’s clear that vocal ability and aesthetic were the reigning considerations in casting Kingsley Judd: his manner of addressing the audience is overly sentimental, as though talking to an audience of senile geriatrics, and his performance is uncomfortable to watch. Dickinson, making his professional debut, seems much more at home as a front man, though he does have the advantage of having a guitar to hide behind, where Judd is left desperately trying to work out what to do with his hands – there’s only so many times you can meaningfully grab the mic stand.

Of course it’s entertaining listening to brilliant musicians performing huge hits, but it’s not a theatre production. The set-up is that of a gig (minus a dancefloor), and there’s little to no acting required or story told.

 

Reviewed by Miriam Sallon

Photography by Hamish Gill

 


The Simon & Garfunkel Story

Lyric Theatre – Monday 20th May & Monday 24th June

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:
The Simon & Garfunkel Story | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | July 2018
A Beautiful Noise | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | February 2019

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