The Lowry, Manchester – until Saturday 1st September 2018
Reviewed by Julie Noller
5*****
Cilla The Musical – oh boy does it pack in those amazing musical performances and numbers. I am lucky and certainly honoured to get a second chance to see this highly polished show and easily gave it five stars. The only downside and it’s a tiny downside is the couple of questionable Liverpudlian accents from the minor (you say minor but they are some of the biggest names from the 1960’s) characters that have you wondering who they are, until introduced of course. But this isn’t their story, it’s in her own words; the story of a gawky red head from Liverpool. You don’t have to be a fan of theatre or drama to enjoy this show, be a fan of the era reminisce along with many in the audience, be a music fan – tap your feet, clap your hands, sway in your seat or if the mood takes you jump to your feet; this is after all the celebration of a young lass who became a singing sensation before ultimately the Queen of Entertainment.
Kara Lily Hayworth once again doesn’t disappoint as Priscilla White later to take on the stage name Cilla Black following a mishap with a poster that everyone believed just sounded better. It’s a totally memorable performance that sucks your soul towards the stage as if Cilla is right there and performing only for you. It’s mesmerising to watch how this feisty girl born at the end of the war and belonging to the new generation, who found music in their hearts, headed to the many small clubs set up to showcase local talent and quite often ended up being the stars of that very stage. There was never any going back they knew the sacrifices their parents had made but that made them all the more determined to enjoy the life and freedom they now had.
All this makes Cilla such a feel good night out, if this was today what would have happened? Perhaps an audition on a tv reality show? What if that went badly as that first audition for Brian Epstein? Forever in the public domain – how sad would that be. Cilla is full of great performances, strong characters and many humorous one liners that the world expects from Scousers, you will laugh. But be warned fame and fortune and in a time where everything was changing but just not quickly enough still means some have a price to pay. For all of Cillas feistiness she was still a young woman battling in a mans world, she knew she could’ve quite easily become a diva, yet it’s that upbringing that rooted her and the men around her who shaped her. Neil MacDonald is brilliant as John White, Cilla’s dad. A man who may be stuck in his ways yet equally surprisingly worldly wise due to his years in the Merchant Navy, a one liner that is used so often it becomes that ultimate comedy one liner.
Alexander Patmore who as Bobby Willis falls in love with our Cilla as soon as he first sees her in the world famous Cavern Club not performing but as just another music fan and wannabe. As was the case previously I rooted for Bobby, it’s a solid performance as the man who led Cilla whilst quietly encouraging her. You see the trials and tribulations of first love even if we all do quietly giggle away at how Timothy Lucas playing Kenny Willis (the elder brother) constantly banters with his brother gently ribbing him. The star performance apart from Kara as Cilla of course because she gives you chills and you find your hairs standing on end, no my favourite has to be Andrew Lancel as Brian Epstein a character so far removed from his many TV characters you forget who he is. A character who deserves his own show, a man of many faces the public, the private and the reality. His story is a tragic one, sadness and betrayal, a man who needs to be needed. And when his life implodes and affects the careers of those he developed well they start to distance themselves and as is reality; lives and people always move on. Andrew Lancel portrays those highs and lows with absolute brilliance and despite not being a singer he delivers his one song with the sadness and empathy it deserves, You’ve got to hide your love away, written by John Lennon perhaps about his wife and young son, or perhaps about Brian Epstein’s love of nasty boys. Even so it’s a heart wrenching performance that drips with sadness and ultimately his death. It is his demise that catapults Cilla onto the BBC and upwards to be given an OBE for her services to entertainment.
The set looks magnificent from Scotty Road, The Cavern to Abbey Road and on wards to the Ed Sullivan Show where it’s plainly obvious those big fishes of the UK pond have become small fishes in a bigger pond, namely Epstein mismanaging Cilla totally. She lost that feistiness to fight for her right to perform her choices. Did Ed Sullivan really say Wales was in England back then? Oh dear.
I am lucky and certainly honoured to get a second chance to see this highly polished show and easily gave it five stars. The only downside and it’s a tiny downside is the couple of questionable Liverpudlian accents from the minor (you say minor but they are some of the biggest names from the 1960’s) characters that have you wondering who they are, until introduced of course. But this isn’t their story, it’s in her own words; the story of a gawky red head from Liverpool.
In a smaller theatre the Cavern set feels like we the audience are there up front swaying to the beat, as The Lowry is a bigger theatre the sets stand out to dominate the stage, you really feel as if you’re at The London Palladium, the sound is amazing its crystal clear and that’s what draws you in. I’m grateful I got this second chance, who could ever tire of Cilla?