Local Hero - Royal Lyceum Edinburgh / Chichester 2022

Well I know nothing about the musical or the movie on which it’s based, but the CFT Prologue scheme is doing a ‘buy 3, get 1 free’ scheme at the moment so I’ve taken a punt on this as my free show - will be interesting to see what I make of it!

So what are the chances of Denis Lawson playing Gordon (or Ben, perhaps) in the forthcoming Chichester production of "Local Hero"? Surely worth considering...

Looks like this is being prepped for potential transfer to London or even US.

In Edinburgh it was a simple set (a few fishing crates, the phone box, a miniature model village) with a curved half-dome backdrop which had projections of skyscapes.  The music is by Mark Knopfler - if you're familiar with his solo work, it is largely folk and Americana, with quite a bit of the soundtrack from the movie carried through.  It is an ensemble piece similar to Come From Away, in that the ensemble provide the momentum.  Like the film, some people get it, some people don't.  I know people who are bored silly by the film (and the musical), and others - like myself - who absolutely love the film and the musical in equal measure.

If you like the film, book for the show. It'll warm your heart.  Daniel Evans will do a brilliant job directing it, and I can see this show being the unexpected hit of the Chichester season, especially with the cast announced.  Come From Away is about unexpected bonds driven by circumstance.  Local Hero is about unexpected circumstances driven by bonds. Where CFA leaves you feeling lifted and buoyant, Local Hero poses existential questions.  How much sand can one man hold in his hand and how do you measure that in dollars when it comes to selling a whole beach load of the stuff?  And what is the point of millions of dollars if you trade in the very priceless beauty that keeps you sane and grounded?

Local Hero the musical, like the film, is a "thinkers" show. It has that unique Scots quirkiness and humour that some people don't like, because it is gritty and grounded.  E.g. In a song entitled "Cheerio, Away Ye Go", Ben (the wise and withered old beach tramp who is holding up the sale of the land to Knox oil and gas) sings "As we say up here in Scotland, cheerio... cheerio - away ye go"; to which the more cynical, streetwise yet sensitive Stella says: "It's Gaelic for fu*k off!"...

Hard show to explain - my Scots blood leaves me biased, but I recommend you book to see it.  Please message me if you'd like to hear a couple of tracks from the Edinburgh production if you'd like to get a feel for the show.  

Such people exist? How bizarre!

Not a lot happens so expect that 😂

No spoilers from me (you'll need to wait and see), but I guarantee you'll love it. All the charm of the film, the music, and (in my view) even better than the original Edinburgh Lyceum production. You might want to book another ticket.

Each to their own . We left at the interval just couldn’t connect with the show at all. For me thought the design was clunky and restrictive. Plus a musical where at least two of the male leads actually can’t sing I was surprised at just how much I wanted to enjoy it walking in and how that feeling rapidly changed. But that’s theatre !

Your committment to this musical is nothing short of inspiring ceebee

As someone who had tickets for this at the Old Vic and who can't squeeze in a trip to Chichester, I do hope a transfer or tour is on the cards. I never understood why the OV cancelled rather than postponed, but they've form for dangling carrots only to snatch them away (Into the Woods).

Longer thoughts on first preview - please bear in mind that it was the first time this show had been performed to an audience, so my views are subjective and I will avoid spoilers as I don't think it is fair on future audience or cast, suffice to say the way some effects are achieved and the set transforms is really very good indeed.

Song list:
A Barrel of Oil (Mac and Company)
Houston, We Have A Problem (Mac)
Welcome to Ferness (The Band) - used to be called "Welcome to Glasgow"
We're Going To Make A Killing (Company)
What A Life (Ben)
Filthy Dirty Rich (Gordon and Company)
Rocks and Water (Stella)
That'd Do Me (Company)
Big Mac and Gordon (Company) - used to be called "Big Mac"
Unlisted in programme: Ceilidh scene playing ceilidh music from the film soundtrack
I Wonder if I Can Go Home Again (Mistress Fraser and Company)
Unlisted in programme: Northern Lights scene played out to Mist Covered Mountains refrain switching to Whistle Theme (Local Hero)

INTERVAL

Never Felt Better (Company)
Cheerio Away Ye Go (Ben and Stella)
Filthy Dirty Rich - reprise (Company)
Numbers (Stella and Mac)
In An Ideal World (mac and Gordon)
Rocks and Water - reprise (Stella)
I Wonder If I can Go Home Again - reprise (Mac)
Houston We Have A Problem - reprise (Mac)
Going Home (theme) (Band)

I would describe this production as part play/part musical - there are some great tunes, but also some great scenes where the acting is doing the business. Gabriel Ebert cuts a tall, suave, lanky alpha male as Mac who flies into Scotland from Houston to buy a village called Ferness so it can be developed into an oil refinery. Turning up with an injured rabbit and electric briefcase, he stays at the hotel run by hotelier, accountant, lawyer, and general fixer called Gordon, played by Paul Higgins, and his partner Stella, who works with him in the hotel and is a "blow-in" from Glasgow. Mac's boss Happer (played by Jay Villiers) tells him to do the deal and to keep watching the sky. He has everything but craves immortality and wants to buy a comet. He's heard the skies are good in Scotland so sends Mac on a double mission. The villagers of Ferness all smell money and start dreaming of the highlife, corralled by Gordon and Reverend Murdo (Rodney Earl Clarke) and urged on and advised by Viktor, a Russian trawlerman who comes bearing gifts, Wodka, and caviar. Viktor Vladimirovich Popov is played superbly by Joshua Manning. He made a relatively small role really stand out. Mac falls for Stella, mistaking her for a mermaid (in the film Stella and Marina are two separate characters - in this they are the same person). Mac gets distracted by the scenery and landscape; Stella and Gordon are not happy but they're not unhappy. Stella is wistful and attuned to nature (played beautifully by Lillie Flynn who has the most gorgeous voice), and she takes a dislike to Mac's determination to trash the landscape for oil. Meanwhile, the big hurdle to securing the deal is a beachcomber called Ben, who lives in a shack on the beach and has charted the skies along with his family for over two hundred years. Hilton McRae as Ben is simply superb. He has absolutely captured the nuance and beauty of this character, and he cuts a simple but wise figure as things happen around him. He doesn't seek material goods and is happy with a pair of fresh socks and some sandwiches (oh and his whisky which fell off a rich man's yacht). The plot moves forward with lots of wheeling and dealing, before it stalls at securing a deal for Ben's beach. Happer flies in on a helicopter, meets Ben and then decides it would be better to build an observatory (Miss Saigon in Sheffield might want to take notes on how to stage a helicopter without a prop). After telling Mac to return to Houston (and get a shave), he sits with Ben and they chart the night skies. The villagers meanwhile are down the pub drinking on the house, following a twist that is unique to this show and not a part of the film. But it works. Mac returns to Houston (plane effects for take off and landing are really well executed, particularly in the first half through some fantastic use of projections and lights), Stella and Gordon return to their normal life, and then the phone rings...

Standouts for me were Hilton McRae and Joshua Manning - really refined characterisations for a first preview. The rest of the cast is very strong, with some stunningly beautiful voices (Lillie Flynn, Jackie Morrison). The direction is absolutely spot on, bringing to life a sleepy Scots'village from the hectic hubub of Houston with seamless style, wit and perfect pace. The lighting, sound and projections are absolutely top drawer - on a par with Life of Pi and Back To The Future - and the set is simple yet versatile. This is a busy show so be prepared not to re-snter the auditorium if you leave mid-show and if you're late, you might have to wait until the interval, so arrive on time!

The band is absolutely superb - I can't imagine the nerves they must have had with both Mark Knopfler and Guy Fletcher in the audience. I know both have been hands-on with the show, but it is still a daunting task to play such iconic music back to the writers.

On this first performance, it was clear (to me anyway) that Gabriel Ebert seemed to have a cold or a sore throat. He was having to work hard on technique to perform the role, so I'm not going to judge the singing - I'm sure he will sound superb once it passes. His characterisation of Mac is excellent - going from being the sleek alpha male to a slightly awkward and gangly smitten regular guy, and his portrayal is charming and honest. The ending when he is back in Houston was particularly powerful and he made my daughter on the left cry and my daughter on the right laugh with the same piece of acting involving his coat pockets. That kind of sums this show up for me - it makes you laugh and cry at the same time. I had a permagrin on my face most of the way through, yet many times my eyes were full at the sheer beauty of the music and acting in front of me. That, if for no other reason, is why this show will hopefully be a big success for Chichester Festival Theatre. Daniel Evans has captured the paradoxical elements of the film on stage, so as an audience your emotions swing from happiness and elation, to being sucked in by the aurora borealis and musical themes that run throughout, wringing your heart and soul as it goes, like the waves that lap the shoreline and the ever-predictable yet ever-volatile tidal swells that punctuate these tiny, beautiful villages in the highlands and islands of Scotland.

I'm biased, I spend a lot of my time on Skye, and whilst these characters are quirky and a little odd, they are also very reflective of many small communities. This could be Dunvegan, Portree, Arisaig, Pennan. THAT is why this version has nailed it so perfectly. The characters are relatable.

Please do go and get a ticket if you can - I'm confident you will enjoy this show. It doesn't need to be theatrical perfection or super-slick, because as we find with our relationships with fellow humans (and rabbits perhaps), it is often the slightly odd idiosyncracies and unconventional things that attract people to each other.

Thanks for reading and apologies for the length.

AUDIENCE NOTE TO PRODUCTION TEAM:

If anybody from the show is reading this, you really need Gordon to sing the line "We'll get rid of the f**king hotel, and be filthy rich as well." Saying the first part and singing the second part diminishes the impact of the line.
Similarly, "Cheerio away ye go" works much better sung through - alternating between spoken and sung devalues the rich lyrical narrative of what was originally a beautiful folk song. I've seen two of the three previews so far and this directorial decision is resulting in a lag between the tune and the spoken lines, plus you've sacrificed one of the most beautiful but funny moments in the show. Ben already has a lot of dialogue, so you can afford him to sing one complete song.
Finally, end of first half with Mac in the phone box - some of the critical lines of his revelation at the aurora borealis are being lost switching between inside and outside the phone box. This could be fixed by having him deliver the lines with the door half open throughout, and dropping the handset for the "red all over" section. The phone pips could then cut in and he could exit the phone box with the handset hanging (instead of trying to replace the handset - after all, he has just had five or six double whiskys, so I doubt he's going to be too bothered about hanging the handset back on the hook).

I hope somebody from the production is reading and considers these suggestions.