After We Will Rock You, Ben Elton turned to Rod Stewart’s songs as he looked to write another jukebox musical.
What he came up with was a variation of the old Faust story – this time a shy young man sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for that of the old rocker. The story is immaterial – it acts merely to hang some glorious musical numbers on.
Ben Heathcote, as the young man, is terrific and, like the rest of his colleagues, does not ape Stewart. All bring their own interpretations to his songs. The best comes from Andy Rees with I Don’t Want To Talk About It – plaintively delivered and then contrasted by Jenna Lee-James’s highly emotional reprise. Her strong voice is matched by Jade Ewen and both give powerful performances.
As expected from Elton, there is some wicked comedy, especially in the character of Stoner, a parody of Mick Jagger, played to perfection by Michael McKell. More comedy comes from Tiffany Graves as Baby Jane.
The first-rate ensemble deliver some high energy dance routines, with You Wear It Well becoming a semi-erotic hoedown.
The rousing finale had the packed house up on its feet singing, clapping and swaying.
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