Another ‘from screen to stage’ musical graces our Leeds Grand Theatre this week. On the back of the stunning production of ‘The Bodyguard’ my sister and I were ready for a night of soul music and socially acceptable placed singing along (again being asked to wait until the finale to join in with the songs, as with The Bodyguard).
The original film of ‘The Commitments’ was released in 1991 and the stage show follows the same story. A group of Irish teenagers decides to put together a cover band and choose soul music as their given style, believing its message of sexual freedom and political activism fits the mantra of the Irish working class.
I didn’t grow up in the era where soul music was first around, nor was I old enough to watch the film in the early 90s. I still enjoy many of the songs from the show though, with ‘Proud Mary’ and ‘Mustang Sally’ being two of my all-time favourite songs. However, even though I thoroughly enjoyed the soundtrack to this production, the music on its own didn’t make up for the lack of storyline and both my sister and I left feeling decidedly underwhelmed.
My main issue with the show is that you just didn’t get to know the characters, perhaps with the exception of the lead singer of the band, Deco, performed by Ben Morris, who you are meant to thoroughly dislike. There is no doubt that his voice is absolutely incredible and he really does carry the songs with energy and impressive vocal gymnastics. However, because you are meant to dislike and even be disgusted at his arrogant, selfish, distasteful behaviour I couldn’t really enjoy his performances.
The other issue with the music is that the songs are sung as though the band is doing them in rehearsals or performances as covers. So none of the songs is actually meaningful to them. They don’t feel the message the words are bringing, the ‘soul’ of soul. They are simply performing them as covers, and often they are just within rehearsals or in performances that go wrong. This means that there is also little choreography in the show too, with the exception of the backing dancers doing some movement in their final performances: it therefore leaves the songs and the show lacking energy and visual engagement.
Additionally, the story just doesn’t ever seem to happen. A band is formed and they quickly end up hating the diva that is the front man. I kept waiting for him to have a major life-changing moment so he can become a decent human being, or for a new lead singer to appear and save the day. But neither of these things happened and the ending, without me giving it away, just felt utterly flat. The stage version clearly misses the sense of time and location, the true grit of Irish working life that is so apparent in the film, needed for you to connect with the characters and story.
It would be wrong not to praise the amazing band, led by George Francis. The extremely smooth transition between the performers on stage and those in the band was perfectly executed and my hat goes off to Stuart Reid and Conor Litten for playing the trumpet and saxophone on stage, creating a triple threat of singing, acting and playing an instrument. The backing vocals in the band were also outstanding, performed by Ciara Mackey, Eve Kitchingman and Sarah Gardiner. I just wish their roles had more grit to match their amazing voices.
The music teacher in me feels frustrated with how it appears that a ten piece band could be put together in about a week, with inexperienced backing singers learning three-part harmonies from ear and a saxophonist going from beginner to Grade 8 in a blink of an eye. It’s frustrating and somewhat belittling as a musician, but that is probably more a pet peeve from someone who has spent years practising and teaching.
The cast allowed the audience to stand up and join in the singing at the end, with Ben Morris unsurprisingly driving the audience’s energy up, and by the volume, cheering and smiles from all around it was clear that most of the audience were thoroughly enjoying the show.
I think that if you are a lover of soul or can really relate to the original film then you will love The Commitments and what it stands for. They certainly knew how to make the audience feel involved at the end and I was impressed by the energy of the Leeds audience on a warm Monday night. There was no doubt that the music had a WHOLE lot of soul; it’s just a shame that the story was lacking it.
The Commitments continues at Leeds Grand Theatre until 24 June.
All photography by Ellie Kurttz. Cover photograph: Eve Kitchingham, Michael Mahony, Ciara Mackey, James Killeen, Sarah Gardiner, Conor Litten, Guy Freeman and Ian McIntosh.
