I'm back (back in NYC from the UK)! I am sorry to see no one has added to this thread. "All or Nothing" was high-energy with an adorable, talented cast. Perhaps its appeal was too narrow for it to get attention on this board: Sixties music -> Small Faces.

My thread about Sunny Afternoon (Sixties music -> The Kinds) only received half a handful of replied 2 years ago. And now the show is a West End success with several awards to its name.

I'm very glad I went. The small theatre (The Vaults) was the perfect setting with the sounds and vibrations from the trains in and out of Waterloo Station adding to the atmosphere rather than detracting from it.

The show will tour around to other small theatres, return to London, and perhaps even come to New York where an awful lot of Sixties music fans live.

Thanks for the review, I'm sure there is another thread about this show somewhere. It didn't have a big response either, but existed.

Hi showgirl,

I only found out about All or Nothing last minute from a friend as I was packing for my London trip (I'm a NYer). There is a review in the Telegraph. I hope I'm allowed to cut and paste! www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/a-small-faces-musical-with-all-the-raucous-vitality--and-hits--y/

also a blog review: www.westendwilma.com/review-all-or-nothing/

Many of the shows are sold out probably b/c it's a small theatre and many people come back several times -- they even dress up! I was in line at the ladies' loo and thought the actresses were in front of me, but they were, rather, audience members in platinum wigs and mod dresses.

At the Vaults the run ended May 21. Today! But the producer said it would be back in town.

You might find out more if you ring up themodfather in Camden Town. It's a mod boutique, and the owner is involved in the show.

After seeing the show, my H and i met several of the people involved in creating the production. They're all very sweet. Hope you get to see it!

Thank you very much for the info, cat6 and bellboard27. I shall check the show website, and that of my local venue again, but I may well have to brave the Vaults instead.

Enjoy! The Vaults were the perfect setting!

Went to the opening night of the show's return to The Vaults last night and had a great time.
The show is very similar to Sunny Afternoon, but with an extended range of 60s songs both performed and used as incidental music. This is necessary, given The Small Faces' limited catalogue of hits, but adds a lot of period flavour.
The cast are strong musicians and vocalists, and the plot just about holds interest, although it's all a bit predicatable (SPOILER: young band takes up with evil management who hampers their dreams, band fall out with each other, never mind -let's have a singalong at the end, etc.)
I thought it a bit over long, and would have benefitted from cutting down a couple of overwrought scenes from Steve Marriott's mum; although as that actress wrote the piece I expect she considers them the most important bits! It also ended rather abruptly and confusingly; basically it stopped when the hits run out and what happpened next is alluded to but not fully explained, as though the audience are expected to know already (I didn't, but my partner was able to enlighten me.)
I liked the conceit of having both a young and an old Steve Marriott, often on stage together. There are lots of 60s references and some very funny cameo characters, mostly played by the same actor. The background is handled with a lighthearted touch that raises smiles and provides relief from the main plot.
It's all quite stylish, although with all the references to how important clothes were to Mods, and to the band, it was a shame that Steve Marriott had the same jumper on for so long. But there are a few props and displays in the bar area that are really interesting.
My first time at The Vaults, an odd venue but worked well for this show - I think it was probably much more atmpospheric than many of the recent tour venues. Unreserved seating. It's very, very hot in the little auditorium - take water, fans and get out in the interval. Not far from Waterloo, but you come out into a rather daunting underpass that I wouldn't have liked had I been on my own.

I'm going on Sat eve and am looking forward to it!

Went to see this. Freckles summed it up very well.

The comparisons to Sunny Afternoon are inevitable and potentially never ending (so I won't bother!). However, being in the cavernous Vaults brings the performers close to the audience, making it in places much more like a gig. This makes for a great atmosphere. I have been to several productions in the Vaults. For some it really does not seem a good fit. For this show, however, the location seems perfect.

I'm going tomorrow so would be grateful if anyone could give me an approximate running time, please?

Thank you, freckles.  Hope I can survive the heat and the late night; thinking perhaps I should've booked the matinee but too late now!

I saw and enjoyed the show this evening and can't really add to what others have said, but it's worth repeating that this is a great venue for this particular production and that it doesn't quite match up to Sunny Afternoon - for me both the tone and the pace were too variable for that - but is nevertheless very engaging. I didn't know all the songs but those in the audience who were slightly older than I am obviously did, and joined in enthusiastically for the final singalong; many of them also took no persuading whatsoever to join the cast on stage. Although each of these stories is different, bio-musicals about bands all seem very similar in featuring parental disapproval, artistic differences, duplicitous management, acrimonious splits and descents into drinking and drug-taking, so in a sense if you've seen one, etc...

I only managed to catch it twice, but it's a show I'll never forget. It's a shame that recording never surfaced!