Cilla - The Musical - Sheridan Smith

Yes saw a brief interview with Kara and she mentioned a 2 week rehearsal period. Very intense.

Ooh it looks good! Glad I booked now! 😊 

And those bitch friends of mine who scoffed and said it would be pants can kiss my astrakhan coat! 👍

My oldest friend, who is very experienced in the ways of musical theatre went to see Saturday matinee (obviously couldn't get tickets for Everton v. Spurs) and has pronounced it "wonderful". Brilliant cast, innovative and atmospheric staging, excellent script, but too long, which is the fault of the musical numbers rather than the script. He admired the directors cheek for the shameless way a standing ovation is engineered at the end and has recommended me to go, so last train to Lime Street for moi!

Had a bit of a Cilla-fest tonight while I was cooking my dinner. I was introduced to her sixties stuff by an ex, until then I saw her as a joke. She really did have a great voice when she was a kid and it's a shame she became a joke singing-wise although of course she became the highest paid female on uK TV so probably wasn't that fussed herself.

She was better than Dusty. Yup. I said it. Better than Dusty.

I really like her, but come on really? Lol

Hoping the choreography for the show is inspired by numbers such as the one below from her to show in the seventies. 

I went to the press night on Friday evening; script writer Jeff Pope, Cilla's son, Bill Kenwright and Paul O'Grady were there. All lovely to fans except for Kenwright.

Verdict: Kara Hayworth was a strong Cilla but I felt her performance went from Cilla impersonation to Kara as herself. The two elements of her portrayal need to gel together more. I felt she did achieve this wonderfully during the song Alfie - which gave me goosebumps and one of the best renditions ever. Sadly the big Act One closer "Anyone Who Had A Heart" I felt was orchestrated wrong. The instruments overpowering the vocals. Plus still not sure why all of the big numbers are staged at the side of the stage rather than the centre.

Carl Au as Bobby was a star. He really can sing and act... Great chemistry with Kara too.

Staging: A bit strange. The Cavern club does not have the famous wall, it's just a stage and could be anywhere. Everything seems very simplistic but it does work and I was O.K. with it.

The main problem for me was the length of Act Two. It felt like too many non-Cilla songs were added to pad out the time and give Kara a break. The duet between Cilla and Bobby, although good, was so very random at the moment they broke up. They have broken up, why are they singing this sweet song? It would have been nice to see this expanded running time used to examine more of Cilla's later career like Blind Date and Surprise, Surprise. I also did not see an Old Cilla despite one being mentioned in the original cast list. The darker side of Cilla from the TV show has also been lessened, maybe as a result of this now being a tribute to her life - I kind of get that.

Overall though, I was entertained. The story is very intriguing and the Merseybeat scene in the 60s was unparalleled. **SPOILERS** The audience was fairly badly behaved, as I have just read they were at The Band. Singing along to a Beatles song, saying "Brian's dead" before that was revealed and "it's gone to number one". Stupid. It was nice to see the show in Liverpool though; references to Everton FC and Cilla being from Wales got the reactions you would expect. I am going again when the show visits Stoke and hoping that Kara will have developed her Cilla to an even better one.

Held off booking this but after reading the reviews have decided to take the plunge and see it in Liverpool tonight. Like showgirl , I can't pretend to have a great interest in Cilla Black but I could say the same about Carole King and I loved Beautiful so really looking forward to it.

Caught the Matinee yesterday in Birmingham and here are my thoughts...

Spent most of the first act thinking it was just ok but nothing really grabbed me. Kara was instantly a likeable and believable Cilla but didn't have much to do in the line of singing for most of Act one. A large stage that made up the Cavern club would roll forward,various groups would perform non Cilla songs whilst the young leads met,danced and spouted lines lifted directly from the tv show in front of the stage. I begun to quickly realise this really was a very faithful adaptation of the tv show,only every song performed in the club was played in full,over and over. The stage would roll back, a scene would be set in the house or on a street, then the stage would roll forward again for another cavern club scene, which became repetitive and quite boring. Was not a fan of that bloody stage!

And then came Anyone who had a heart. WOW. Kara was amazing and blew the song and the rest of the show that came before it clean away. And this momentum carried on for me over into the second act with performances of You're my world, Alfie, and step inside love all showcasing what an absolute star in the making Kara Lily Hayworth is and she really is the ace up this shows sleeve. Sounding enough like Cilla,but not an imitation, her voice and full and warm with a big belt,every cilla number was a winner.

Which for me was the main problem with the show, too many songs especially other peoples crow barred in at every opportunity,making the show too long (3 hours!!) without really adding anything to the very slim story. I realise this was to pad out Act 1 before Cillas first hit,and you can't blame them for wanting to end Act one with it, like I said before its phenomenal, but did anyone really need,or expect Mamas and Papas to randomly show up half way through act 2, as nicely performed as California Dreaming was.

Its easy to rave only about Kara but the rest of the cast also did a great job with the material. Carl Au's Bobby bought all the charm needed to invest in his and Cillas romance,even if there wasn't much drama in their second act break up,you know they end up together,but at least you believed in thee two of them.

Andrew Lancel was also great as Brian Epstein. The book may have dealt with his personal life with all the subtlety of a sledge hammer ,and having him sing You've got to hide your love away was as on the nose as you can get,but this moment was quite a highlight for me,the emotion was raw and quite unexpected.

I usually hate enforced standing ovations in musical theatre,but this one has to be admired for sheer calculation and cynicism!! The end of the show proper,the finale,and the curtain calls all seem to strangely merge into one. You're like oh,were at that part now,which robs the ending of any emotional clout. Plus that bleeding stage makes a return for the finale,leaving the whole company to clunkily stand in front of it,nearly falling off the front of the real stage as they manoeuvred round each other for their solo bits, and into my lap! I was in the second row,and the awkwardness as each company member moved the other out the way was quite unnerving! Please get rid of that stage lol.

So in closing, was Cilla a flawless and well directed piece of musical theatre? God no.
Did I (eventually) find it a hugely entertaining crowd pleaser performed by an amazing cast? YUP.
Is it worth seeing just for Kara Lily Hayworth? Definitely.
Could a good show be turned into an amazing one if they removed about half an hour of filler? Maybe.
Have I just booked to see in again in Nottingham next year? .... Might have! xx

Yes I only realised he had played him before whilst reading the programme,no wonder he had such a firm grasp on the character!

I just registered now to post a comment about Cilla the musical. I just saw the musical tonight at the first night in Blackpool. The show is darn good. It is not a cheap production. There are 18 performers in the show. The first half edges towards being a stage drama. In the second half the show keeps hitting you with many great songs by great performers until your face has to smile. Standing ovation at the end. It may have been slightly engineered but was well deserved. If you like musicals, go see it, it is the bees knees.

2hrs 50min - it's a long show!