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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 12:50:04 GMT
 As announced by Baz, Music and Lyrics by Bob Marley, written and directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah. At the Birmingham REP from 10 March to 8 April 2017. General onsale 7 October (currently onsale for members). |
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3,057 posts
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Post by ali973 on Sept 30, 2016 12:52:17 GMT
Marley is a legendary artist and an icon. But not everything needs to be musicalized.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 14:14:32 GMT
Goodness. Everyone is getting a musical nowadays aren't they? Maybe now is the time to seriously develop my idea for a Scooby Doo musical featuring the songs of Betty Boo.
Entitled 'Scooby Dooby Doin' The Do!'.
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1,119 posts
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Post by martin1965 on Sept 30, 2016 17:17:23 GMT
Def wont be going to this and i work in Brum!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 20:07:33 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2017 23:16:32 GMT
First cast announcement...
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1,013 posts
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Post by talkstageytome on Jan 19, 2017 23:17:26 GMT
I'm suddenly interested in seeing this! Love Alexia...
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2,051 posts
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Post by infofreako on Jan 19, 2017 23:19:19 GMT
Interesting.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2017 0:16:30 GMT
Mitchel Brunings (of the original Baltimore production and The Voice (Holland) runner-up) in the title role.
Also Jacade Simpson as Peter Tosh and Newtion Matthews as Bunny Wailer
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2017 20:05:53 GMT
I thought this was a great production.
It reminded me a lot of Jersey Boys and how people consider it more of a 'play with songs' as a lot of them are used, but some are just segments to tell the story. Nonetheless, Bob Marley's songs are iconic and are well justified by Mitchell Brunings' voice, the band and the rest of the cast. By the end it almost feels like we are at one of Bob's gigs as the audience are up and dancing in the aisles (one for the 'Now Obligatory Standing Ovation' thread!).
However I thought that it was difficult to emotionally connect the characters, in particular Bob, so I think some work would need to be done on the script or acting if it was to transfer into London, which I think is the intention with Playful Productions co-producing.
Also thought the set and lighting was very effective with the use of projections and live camera feeds for press conferences etc.
I would give it 4 stars (which I think a lot of the reviews from last night have), no more, no less.
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1,827 posts
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Post by stevej678 on Mar 20, 2017 10:56:53 GMT
This was my first time visiting the Birmingham Rep Theatre and I have to say I was really impressed with the venue. Friendly staff, comfy offset seats, decent legroom and a steep rake – what's not to like? TheatreMonkey heaven!
I enjoyed One Love and am definitely glad to have seen it but the show feels at the moment like a case of only partly fulfilled potential. There’s definitely a terrific musical to be made featuring Bob Marley's music. With a bit more work, this might be it. The vibrancy of Bob’s music is captured well but frustratingly lots of the songs are presented only as snippets. Barely a minute for songs like Is This Love really leaves you wanting more.
Unfortunately, while there seems to be great potential for a really engaging narrative in a musical focused on Bob Marley, particularly in comparison to The Kinks and Sunny Afternoon for example, the dialogue between songs falls fairly flat and feels unnecessarily drawn out at times, particularly before the interval, and makes the often severe pruning of the songs all the more frustrating, especially when they're performed so well by those on stage and in the band behind them. At times, it’s like the show is trying to fight between embracing being a jukebox musical and aspiring to be a play with music, failing to fully achieve either brief.
The problem is definitely one of emotional connection with the characters and particularly Bob himself. Vocally, Mitchell Brunings is outstanding and the resemblance to Bob's iconic voice is uncanny. I'm really not sure if I heard recordings of both I would be able to tell the difference, it's that good. However, for much of the performance I felt frustrated by an apparent lack of energy from the leading man. At first, I put this down to the actor but increasingly started to feel the issue was with the script itself. With a focus on Bob’s personal life to the fore, it's often a fairly unflattering portrait of an icon, making the central character hard to like or really care about. This in itself shouldn't necessarily be a problem – in fact, not sugarcoating its depiction of Bob Marley could be a strength of the show that's to be admired - but the script provides little opportunity for Mitchell to convey any emotional depth so there's little opportunity to empathise with Bob’s flaws.
Fortunately, some of the other characters do manage to elicit more of a response and establish a connection with the audience. There’s great work from Alexia Khadime and Cat Simmons as Bob’s wife Rita and lover Cynthia respectively, while Natey Jones gets some of the best lines as Trevor Waters / Tek Life.
As with Sunny Afternoon, this is a show that undoubtedly has some sublime moments. A mash up of Waiting In Vain and No Woman No Cry, sung as a duet by Mitchell Brunings and Alexia Khadime, is stunning. A few more moments like this would have been welcome but on the whole the show shuns trying to put its own stamp on classic songs and sticks to faithful renditions, performed very well.
The finale doesn't disappoint. Bob embracing his status as an icon is well conveyed and after a dazzling, full length rendition of Jammin with the full company, the audience are summoned to their feet (and many encouraged on to the stage) for an encore of Three Little Birds, Get Up Stand Up, and the title song of the show. Here, Mitchell Brunings finally comes into his own, bounding around the stage, interacting with the crowd and bringing the fervour and energy to his performance I'd been wanting all along. As the audience are encouraged to hold their arms aloft, with clenched fists raised in the air, there's a party atmosphere that just about lifts the show into four star territory. If only a little more of the production had allowed the 30+ wonderful songs of Bob Marley chance to shine and stir it up like this…
Sorry if I’ve drifted into Quentin Letts mode here in nitpicking at a production then awarding it four stars but with just a few changes in emphasis here and there this could be something truly special. It's not quite there yet but hearing that inspirational music live on stage is still a treat nonetheless.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2017 23:25:39 GMT
This was my first time visiting the Birmingham Rep Theatre and I have to say I was really impressed with the venue. Friendly staff, comfy offset seats, decent legroom and a steep rake – what's not to like? TheatreMonkey heaven! I enjoyed One Love and am definitely glad to have seen it but the show feels at the moment like a case of only partly fulfilled potential. There’s definitely a terrific musical to be made featuring Bob Marley's music. With a bit more work, this might be it. The vibrancy of Bob’s music is captured well but frustratingly lots of the songs are presented only as snippets. Barely a minute for songs like Is This Love really leaves you wanting more. Unfortunately, while there seems to be great potential for a really engaging narrative in a musical focused on Bob Marley, particularly in comparison to The Kinks and Sunny Afternoon for example, the dialogue between songs falls fairly flat and feels unnecessarily drawn out at times, particularly before the interval, and makes the often severe pruning of the songs all the more frustrating, especially when they're performed so well by those on stage and in the band behind them. At times, it’s like the show is trying to fight between embracing being a jukebox musical and aspiring to be a play with music, failing to fully achieve either brief. The problem is definitely one of emotional connection with the characters and particularly Bob himself. Vocally, Mitchell Brunings is outstanding and the resemblance to Bob's iconic voice is uncanny. I'm really not sure if I heard recordings of both I would be able to tell the difference, it's that good. However, for much of the performance I felt frustrated by an apparent lack of energy from the leading man. At first, I put this down to the actor but increasingly started to feel the issue was with the script itself. With a focus on Bob’s personal life to the fore, it's often a fairly unflattering portrait of an icon, making the central character hard to like or really care about. This in itself shouldn't necessarily be a problem – in fact, not sugarcoating its depiction of Bob Marley could be a strength of the show that's to be admired - but the script provides little opportunity for Mitchell to convey any emotional depth so there's little opportunity to empathise with Bob’s flaws. Fortunately, some of the other characters do manage to elicit more of a response and establish a connection with the audience. There’s great work from Alexia Khadime and Cat Simmons as Bob’s wife Rita and lover Cynthia respectively, while Natey Jones gets some of the best lines as Trevor Waters / Tek Life. As with Sunny Afternoon, this is a show that undoubtedly has some sublime moments. A mash up of Waiting In Vain and No Woman No Cry, sung as a duet by Mitchell Brunings and Alexia Khadime, is stunning. A few more moments like this would have been welcome but on the whole the show shuns trying to put its own stamp on classic songs and sticks to faithful renditions, performed very well. The finale doesn't disappoint. Bob embracing his status as an icon is well conveyed and after a dazzling, full length rendition of Jammin with the full company, the audience are summoned to their feet (and many encouraged on to the stage) for an encore of Three Little Birds, Get Up Stand Up, and the title song of the show. Here, Mitchell Brunings finally comes into his own, bounding around the stage, interacting with the crowd and bringing the fervour and energy to his performance I'd been wanting all along. As the audience are encouraged to hold their arms aloft, with clenched fists raised in the air, there's a party atmosphere that just about lifts the show into four star territory. If only a little more of the production had allowed the 30+ wonderful songs of Bob Marley chance to shine and stir it up like this… Sorry if I’ve drifted into Quentin Letts mode here in nitpicking at a production then awarding it four stars but with just a few changes in emphasis here and there this could be something truly special. It's not quite there yet but hearing that inspirational music live on stage is still a treat nonetheless. I totally agree with your review stevejohnson678, particularly with the (lack of) emotional connection with the characters and the battle of it being a jukebox musical or play with songs. I think the director/writer Kwame Kwei-Armah has said that it should fit more within the latter stating that it isn't "sing-a-long-a-Bob" when he was asked if it was a jukebox musical. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed it a lot, despite these problems, and clearly has been getting good reviews with this final extended week being sold out (standing room only left) Also by the look of it on Instagram, it looks like an EPK was recorded this week, so it probably will be used for a potential tour or West End transfer...? |
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