Arts

The Blues Brothers

Norwich Theatre Royal

21/09/16

I am sorry to report that I have very few positive comments to make about last night’s Blues Brothers performance. Now, maybe I took the blurb about the show out of context, but I was expecting a musical, a live show, all singing, all dancing, filled with all the classic songs that we know and love. Alas, this was not the case. Instead, the show was more of a ‘tribute’ to the Blues Brothers; as in a really budget, amateur tribute act that, although displayed glimmers of talent, on the whole was pretty dire.

The musicians were definitely a strong point in terms of their instruments, they all had their fair share of impressive solos and kept in time. However, their “costumes” were really odd and nothing really seemed to fit together. The bassist was wearing a basketball t-shirt, the pianist and the drummer were just in black, the guitarist went formal and the sax and trumpet players were in army gear! There were the three backup singers, who were sufficiently glitzy and glamorous which I really enjoyed, but they looked a tad out of place and were sometimes out of time with their steps.

In keeping with the original line up there was a section mid-way through the first half of the show where Elwood and Jake donned fuzzy bee outfits. Their movements were half hearted and pretty awkward and unfortunately not in the humorous way that I believe it was intended. Obviously the duo are supposed to be funny and a bit bumbling, but watching those two last night was like watching your drunk stepdad and that weird uncle doing karaoke at a wedding! Mega cringe and pretty naff on all levels.

The set was weak and uninspiring, the stage fabric was loosely stapled on to the performer’s platforms which looked really unprofessional and rushed, the backdrop was of the Chicago skyline and it looked pretty cheap; you could see all the creases where it had been folded up on itself.

It was good to hear Shake Your Tail Feather and R.E.S.P.E.C.T  and the two glittery ladies did perform these tracks really well vocally, but unfortunately they were let down by the chaotic choreography that was jumbled around them while they were fronting the performance.

The final straw for me came when the Reverend entered to perform Hallelujah and the stage was blacked out. Instead of the stage lights rising, everything continued to be shrouded in darkness as the singing began. Then all of a sudden the spotlight came blaring out, totally missing the lead singer and shining on the other side of the stage at nothing! Eventually the spotlight found its way to the singer (or he made his way into the light) but the band, the brothers and the backing singers remained in the pitch dark!

It is never a good sign when half the audience were complaining and commenting about the first it as they exited for the interval (in the pitch darkness because they didn’t turn the house lights on when the curtain closed) and just seemed so sub-par in comparison to the incredible shows the Theatre Royal ordinarily delivers.

4/10