I was privileged to be at the premier performance of Boogie Nights, on Wednesday 21st August 2002 at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley.
I have only seen the show once before and that was in Milton Keynes a couple of years ago with Shane Richie. So I thought I knew what to expect, but how wrong was I? The show has been changed in a lot of ways and I personally think the changes are for the better.
The story is about a wannabe musician and his turbulent relationship with Girlfriend, Debs and Dad Eamon, also the great friendship with best mate Terry. The show is set in the 70�s when life revolved around the Disco on a Saturday Night and boy�s being boy�s.
The impression that I got from the minute the cast appeared was that they were there to make sure everybody enjoyed the evening, including themselves. They all had the biggest smiles on their faces and not just because they are meant to be happy but, because they truly were. The show is full of songs that everyone remembers for that era but if you are to young I�m still sure you will recognise them anyway. It�s a feel good show and that is exactly what the cast makes you feel.
GOOD
Sophie Lawrence is brilliant as Debs your heart goes out to her as her unthinking boyfriend stands her up and she turns to best friend Trish for support when she discovers she is pregnant. She makes you want to cry with her and cheer for her when she dumps him because �Enough is Enough�.
Kev Orkian is brilliant as Terry he had me in stitches from start to finish, he has the wonderful ability to make people laugh even when you are not meant to because of the faces he pulls and the sound in his voice. He has an awesome voice when he sings and when he dances its sheer talent.
Hayley Tamaddon, who plays Trish is brilliant, she is so funny. She plays Trish with the right amount of stupidity that you feel sorry for her. Her best friend has it all and she is just tagging along but in the end she gets her man and her dreams do come true. She is really a fantastic actress who brings the part she plays to life.
These are just the people who really stood out to me. The entire cast were brilliant, the dancing was phenomenal and the singing equalled this is every way. There are too many to mention them all by name so for all of you:
Thank you for a great night I will be back soon.
Right now for the bit you have all been waiting for - Sam
Sam is one of my favourite people and I have seen him many times before but last night was the best I have ever seen him. We all know that Sam has a truly outstanding voice but what I didn�t know was that he can DANCE he is brilliant, is there no end to this mans talents (lets hope not).
He is playing a cocky teenager, who only thinks of himself. So for Sam this must be very hard, as he is the most caring and considerate person with a wicked sense of humour. His sense of humour does come out in the character and for most of the show he had me in fits, tears were rolling down my face and my sides hurt from laughing so much. There is one part when Sam is doing the Y.M.C.A. they all do this in such a camp way but to see Sam strutting about trying to restick his moustache and in the end giving up and sticking it to his forehead, sheer brilliance. The showstopper for me was when Sam sang a medley of Rod Stewart songs, he had the audience singing and clapping along he is a real entertainer. He sang one other song which made the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end and that was �Sorry� he sang it with such emotion that it made you want to cry.
Other memorable parts were the whole cast sitting on the edge of the stage doing the hand jive to
Happy Days, Sam riding a kids bike dressed as a Bay City Roller fan in cropped trousers trimmed with tartan and finally Sam saying
�If you like the show I�m Sam Kane and if you didn�t I�m Shane Richie�.
Please support this marvellous cast and go see �Boogie Nights�
It will be a brilliant night out and you will be dancing in the street�s all the way home
Review from The Stage
The real, although unseen, hero of this seventies musical is Alan Harding. After recent ill health, he recovered to choreograph this frenetic song and dance show.
And what a groovy chore that is. A cliche boy meets girl, boy loses girl storyline serves as an excuse to present a succession of pulsating seventies hits.
This production at the Churchill, directed by Jon Conway, is about to tour and success is assured wherever it plays. Already it is booked to tour America from next April.
The original version ran for more than three years and now Sam Kane has replaced Shane Richie as the leading stud � a British rival to John Travolta or the Fonz.
But it is the love/hate mix of Kane and Sophie Lawrence, as Debs, which is at the centre of the action. The ex-EastEnders girl can handle a song and triumphs with female anthem I Will Survive.
As the nerdish couple, Kev Orkian and Hayley Tamaddon are stand-outs. Don Crann is a delight as the Elvis-loving drunken Irish father and joins the other males for a YMCA medley.
The intention throughout is to get the audience on its feet and by the end there is a dancing ovation with not a seat occupied.
By James Green
Watching Boogie Nights is like gobbling a cocktail of Pro Plus and Viagra� in one big mouthful.
If I did feel I�d guzzled a pro plus and viagra cocktail, there was certainly the surreal edge one might expect to accompany it. In abstract moments, I found myself watching the audience instead of the throbbing, glittering stage. A trio of women, around my nan�s age, wearing white Afro wigs with flashing antennae, particularly caught my eye. I guessed they were in the 70�s first time round.
Boogie Nights leading love interest Roddy (Sam Kane), dazzles the audience with a (dubious) tan and sparklingly white teeth, but is ultimately very likeable and, yes, I admit it girls, pretty fanciable. Oh, and his dancing and singing are not bad either�..If you�re of a certain persuasion, you may actually want the front row seats, for a chance of very close-up pelvic action in the racy number �Do You Think I�m Sexy?� (those with pacemakers are advised to decline).
And for the boys, leading lady Debs (Sophie Lawrence), will have your eyes on stalks with her microscopic hotpants and silver knee high boots. They never allowed her to wear outfits like that as Diane Butcher in Eastenders (though she would have looked odd, admittedly, mincing about Walford in such get up). Anyway, the men who braved the predominantly female audience didn�t look too disappointed.
It seems I�m reducing the show to broiling hormones- though you are encouraged to since young people�s sexiness is crucial to the vibrancy of Boogie Nights. As is their enthusiasm- the cast so desperately want this show to work, that it just about makes it. Some corking songs also give a big jump-start.
Having missed the 70s first time round, I�d dismissed it (along with most of my generation) as a terrible, naff time of unexplainably popular phenomena like Pan�s People (what was that all about?!). And indeed it was- however, they�ve managed to retrieve some buried gems for Boogie Nights.
If I hadn�t been convinced about Sophie Lawrence, I was more indulgent after she�d hit us with �I Will Survive� (though who could fail to get the solidarity vote, with such a belter of a �been dumped� song). And, of course, YMCA was given to us in true style. The police officer was particularly yummy, and the sailor looked (unintentionally perhaps) like Bob Mortimer doing a send up. This was irresistible. You will, of course, be expected to participate in the arm-flinging YMCA dance so my top tip is to wear really, really good deodorant. It gets very hot in here.
Outstanding performers were for me, Lorraine (Stephanie Charles) who had a voice a bit like Dina Caroll and whose rendition in the duet �Enough is Enough� could make your hair stand on end. I wished she�d given us a bit more sass for �Street Life� though. And, I couldn�t possibly write this review without acknowledging the smooth, melty voice of Spencer (Joe Speare), who could probably have seduced any number of the audience at the backstage party. I�ve never really seen the appeal in Barry White, but that might be because he was actually not very attractive. But slap that voice onto a sexy young man and you have a concoction so horny it merits police surveillance.
A lot of work, enthusiasm and dedicated choreography have clearly gone into the making of this, which lends rolling momentum to a patchy script and slightly overlong set. The character of Eamon (Don Crann) had some genuinely funny comments, but most younger people will be laughing at the dialogue, rather than with it. There are some terrible sick-bag moments too, like when the girls sing Yesterday Once More (quite a good song, but you�ll see what I mean). Predictable at times (the audience were way ahead), there is still a twist in the �plot� which I was refreshed to find a vague surprise.
I wasn�t sure how old any of the stage characters were supposed to be and this was actually reflected in the audience, who were so lost in music, they didn�t seem to know how old they were any more, either. Some audience members had dressed up in the antithesis of Rocky Horror tradition (sexually explicit, racy black gear) in twirly swirly 70s garb that was most strange to behold. (Almost, in fact, as surreal as if Diane Butcher had worn an Afro and moonboots in Eastenders). But nay matter. Such disorientation is arguably, in itself, a mini taster of the acid-tastic 70s experience.
The message here is: good taste flies out the window, for the sake of fun. So you�ve got to be up for it! You must boogie on your feet at the end of this show because, no matter how begrudging you feel, it would be far more embarrassing to keep miserably rooted to your seat. Everyone else is wriggling about and the cast have worked too hard for you to let them down. It would be difficult to really hate this show anyway though, because (for many different reasons) you're guaranteed to smile.
Taken from www.bbc.co.uk
