Theatre / Reviews
Review: Tonight’s the Night, Hippodrome
There was a rustling among the audience as Tonight’s the Night at the Bristol Hippodrome reached its conclusion on opening night.
The sound was of people finding the paper hats that they had been given on the way into the theatre; sailor hats to be precise which they put on as the opening chords of Sailing struck up.
That nowhere in the production had previously mentioned sailing nor sailors nor boats nor hats didn’t seem to matter.
When Ben Elton wrote We Will Rock You, the ‘jukebox musical’ based around the songs of Queen, he set it in a post-apocalyptic world where two young dreamers were searching for what became instruments in order to free them from a 1984-style existence.
Songs were just about linked to the story, yet in Tonight’s the Night that wasn’t the case for the vast majority of the time.
Stuart was a car repairman until he made a deal with the devil to get Rod Stewart’s soul. So he flung off his NHS specs and embodied Stewart, standing in for him at gigs and therefore able to sing all of his biggest hits.
Of course there was also a character called Maggie May, the song which opened the second half after he had just bedded his tour manager.
This was a major problem in the production: women fell at the feet of Stuart, with the real Stewart being presented as some kind of demigod with even the size of his penis made reference to none too implicitly in what was at heart a hagiography of the Scottish crooner.
But the character played by Ben Heathcote was more annoying than alluring. Ricky Rojas as sozzled bandmate Stoner was much more entertaining.
Tonight’s the Night will probably be enjoyed by Rod Stewart fans, informed on page one of the programme that he he has recently released his first studio album in more than a decade and that tickets for his UK arena tour are now on sale.
But for anyone who is not a fan, this won’t make you feel sexy, more leave you stone cold sober.
Tonight’s the Night is at the Bristol Hippodrome until July 5. Visit www.atgtickets.com/shows/tonights-the-night/bristol-hippodrome/.
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