Grand Opera House York – Saturday 12th March 2022
Reviewed by Michelle Richardson
5*****
You may not have heard of Steve Steinman before, but he appeared in Stars in Their Eyes as Meatloaf nearly 30 years ago and has been busy touring with his own shows ever since. I have been fortunate to have watched Steve Steinman’s Vampires Rock Ghost Train several times before, this was the fourth, and all at the Grand Opera House York. Steinman is the writer, producer, director and plays the lead. This particular show has been touring for the past 19 years. It promises to be a classic rock musical sensation, that rocks the nation.
With tweaks each tour, it does follow a similar story and just gets better each year. Baron von Rockula (Steinman) wants new virginal blood to replace his Vampire Queen (Emily Clark). Instructing his ever-faithful sidekick Bosley (John Evans) to find him an innocent, along comes Roxy Honeybox (Claire Micallef). After a ride on the Ghost Train she is pursued by the Baron, and his entourage of sexy vampires. His Queen is incensed with his fascination with “this day walker” and is more than a match for the Baron. We can’t forget Van Halensing and his quest to finally hunt down and rid the earth of the Baron.
There is great chemistry amongst the cast and you can tell that Steinman, Evans, Clark and Trixabelle Bold, one of the sexy vampires, have worked together for many years. Evans is always a crowd pleaser as the janitor and Van Halensing and doesn’t disappoint here. I was so happy to see him in his iconic zebra print leggings and blue pvc pants on top, bringing the house down with Jump, long may it continue.
As always, the vocals are powerful and handle the rock ballads perfectly. In the last year Steinman has released his own original album, Take a Leap of Faith, and singles, Journey Home and Everything They Said Was True. The title soundtrack slotted perfectly into the show.
The Lost Boys, the excellent musicians, take us through tracks from Queen, AC/DC, Meat Loaf, Journey, Guns n Roses, Van Halen and many more. On stage the whole time, performing on different levels, they had the whole theatre rocking. For this tour The Lost Boys were stripped back and if I’m honest I would have loved to have seen more guitar action. They were still outstanding throughout the show.
This was the first time I’ve caught it on a weekend and not on a “school night”. With having no work on the Saturday either we made an afternoon of it, a few drinks, and a bite to eat beforehand. We visited Plonkers for our food, just opposite the theatre, and several crew members were there with previous ones, including local guitarist Henry Bird. It would have been great to see him back on stage with the show, with blood dripping down his chest, did miss that bit.
Steinman’s shows always have a loyal following and once you have seen his shows you can understand why, he loves his audience. They might not have the best scripts around, but they are such huge fun, with current references and gaffs galore, you can tell they are having a ball on stage. Steve Steinman Productions must be one of the hardest working outfits out there, with this show and Anything for Love, always on tour.
This is 2 ½ hours of pure unadulterated bonkers entertainment. Even though I’ve seen the show several times I’ve never been up dancing on my feet and singing along so much, the energy on the night was so out of the ballpark. I don’t know if that was because it was the last night of the tour, or because I had no constraints. Whatever it was it was brilliant.
Make sure you catch this vampire pantomime rock concert next year, you won’t be disappointed. They are now touring with Anything for Love, and you can catch them back at the Grand Opera House in York in October.