When a grumpy reviewer who, if asked about musicals, would usually say “I don’t really like them generally,” comes away from tonight with a big smile on his face, then you know the cast and production team behind Sunny Afternoon have definitely hit the mark.
It’s not a huge surprise that Ray Davies, the legendary lead singer of The Kinks, was heavily involved in this being put together. Clearly keen for the group’s story to be told on his terms and using the incredible back catalogue at his disposal, the musical and vocal adaptations from him and Elliott Ware weave the songs brilliantly into the stories in the setting of the early years of The Kinks. Starting out in 1960’s swinging London, those stories are adapted from the excellent work of writer Joe Penhall.
The show has picked up four Olivier Awards previously and for a number of years now has had successful and lengthy West End stints; and they’ve drawn on some of the actors with previous company experience in the show.
Danny Horn returns to play Ray Davies, Oliver Hoare is back playing his brother Dave Davies, while Harry
Curley plays Peter Quaife; and Zakarie Stokes makes his professional debut as Mick Avory, together forming the famous band.
Directed by Edward Hall and designed by Miriam Buether, with choreography by Adam Cooper, lighting design by Rick Fisher and sound design by Matt McKenzie, the producer Sonia Freeman has brought the hit musical back on a UK tour, taking in a number of venues around the country, including here at Leeds Grand Theatre for a short run at the back end of February, starting tonight.
While I’ve been to fellow Leeds venues The Playhouse and City Varieties plenty of times over the years for various events, to the best of my knowledge this is a first ever visit to the historic building built in 1878 by architect George Corson and it is impressive.
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It’s a really magnificent setting, cosy and comforting like an old friend, its curved corridors easing you into the ageing but detailed and sumptuous high ceilings and large stage. It’s a healthy crowd in for the opening night including some who may well have seen the original band back in their heyday.
Most musicals are generally action-packed with singers, dancers, splashes of colour and a myriad number of people somehow navigating around each other in painstakingly planned choreography. It will remind you of the bicycles and cars in the busiest Amsterdam streets, somehow existing in harmony (and this show is no exception).
It’s the beautifully rendered and brutal kitchen sink drama of the life of a young band negotiating their way through the sharks of the music industry. They are stitched into the play, adding a real charm and human element to the production.
Relationships are built, broken and ultimately mended again. It’s also laced with a good degree of humour and detailed moments of clever and at times slapstick fun across the stage and sometimes beyond.
The strong performances in the cast go deep, all very believable, all very good on the musical side, too – and the timing is perfect throughout. There are the obvious hits you would expect to hear from the band with Dead End Street a real highlight in the first half of the performance. The title track and Waterloo Sunset are standout moments and crowd favourites in the second half, but you also get deeper cuts in the show and these are key for keeping the band’s story moving throughout.
All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable riot of costume and stage changes that are exemplary in how they take place so as not to lose the flow or be intrusive. There are strong showings from all the cast and it’s brilliantly put together. No wonder it’s won awards and is still showing to appreciative audiences nearly a decade on from its debut. You can count this musical convert as one of those.
