Director: Brad Henshaw
Reviewer: Cathy Crabb
[Rating:4/5]
It’s a Blues Brother’s tribute show and so is an uplifting light hearted and joyous event with original rhythm and blues and soul numbers to dance and clap along to, if that’s what gets you going. And though Jake and Elwood, The Bluettes and the band were fantastic, we the audience took a bit to warm up.
This wasn’t helped by someone in the circle waiting for silent breaks so she could gob off. Being a Tuesday night, it allowed for a cloud of embarrassment and fear to dampen our spirits and we (the rest of the audience) weren’t over it until the second half when we decided we would get up and dance when asked to. And so we did and we put aside her attempts to scupper our fun (she had grown silent- perhaps being sick in her handbag) as we clapped and danced throughout the rest of the show.
I was impressed by the show as a whole which captures the essence of the film and musical and Brad Henshaw (who also directed the show) as Jake and Daniel Fletcher as Elwood pay a thoughtful tribute to Belushi and Ackroyd, big boots to fill of course and I’m not sure anyone could.
All the favourites were there ‘Soul Man’, ‘Respect’ ‘Everybody’ and ‘Shake a Tail Feather’, as well as some unexpected songs like ‘Minnie the Moocher’ (sung by a charismatic performer- Luke Jasztal) and ‘Do You Love Me’. The set had an LA night club feel to it- brick walls with posters on and the band scattered about the stage. There were some funny moments too, as Jake and Elwood came down on ropes which snapped and they plummeted to the stage, a few gags here and there which weren’t the best but we were there for the music and the seven piece band didn’t disappoint- I particularly enjoyed the harmonised version of ‘Under the Boardwalk’.
For those who love The Blues Brothers, you won’t be disappointed, go and experience it this weekend, you will have a great time, don’t take a heckler though, it’ll ruin it for you.
Runs until Sat 5th March
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