REVIEW: The Commitments
Joyful, high energy stuff, with three songs in the encore for an audience demanding more…
Back in theatres 10 years after it first opened, The Commitments, the world’s hardest working band, certainly didn’t disappoint at Bristol Hippodrome this week.
What a lot of hard work they are too. Jimmy is down on his luck and has a dream of managing his own band. With nothing but a small ad in the local paper and a desire to bring soul to the streets of Dublin, he goes about finding his music makers, and what a troupe of misfits he assembles too.
Holding auditions in his Da’s front room, the motly more than musical turn up at his door to audition and so the sublime comedy in The Commitments kicks off a night that is as mirthful as it is musical.
Alan Parker’s 90s film earned a cult following for this brilliant story by Roddy Doyle, critical acclaim too with Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. Musically, the film’s soundtrack was high quality and this was every bit the case here with the live stage version. Not least in the performance of Ian McIntosh as lead singer Declan, who can’t keep a job or his alcohol-sodden mouth from spouting obscenities at anyone who will listen. What a singing voice he has as he belts numbers like Mustang Sally, Try A Little Tenderness and Mr Pitiful.
His backing singers make a formidable trio too. Fighting over the ‘famous’ member of the band, Joey The Lips, who has played with the likes of Wilson Pickett no less, Imelda, Natalie and Bernie provide supreme vocals.
It feels wrong to describe them as ‘backing singers’ as Ciara Mackey, Eve Kitchingham and Sarah Gardiner (who has more than a passing resemblance to Bronagh Gallagher from the film) deliver many of the musical and comedy highlights of the night. Aretha Franklin’s Think and Tina Turner’s Proud Mary were particular highlights.
At times the show felt a little chaotic, with missing props, malfunctioning scenery and forgotten lines stalling the production occasionally. They got away with it, such is the nature of the storytelling, and there’s no denying the enduring appeal of these wonderful characters and their unlikely, yet stunning musical harmony. It was joyful, high energy stuff, with three songs in the encore for an audience demanding more.
The Commitments runs at Bristol Hippodrome until Saturday 25 March. Limited tickets available, book here.