The Commitments have landed at The Orchard Theatre this week, and I headed along to press night to check it out. Based on the film of the same name, The Commitments tells the story of Jimmy Rabbitte and his ambition to create Dublin's best soul band. He recruits an unlikely group of musicians and singers and throughout the show we watch their progress as they learn how to work together to create soul music.
I have seen The Commitments before, on a previous tour, and it is a lot of fun. With soul classics like Proud Mary, I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Mustang Sally and Papa Was A Rolling Stone, to name but a few, played live on stage, what's not to love?
The cast were an incredible mix of Actor/ Musicians, Actors and Singers and all of them had incredible talent! James Deegan was on for the role of Deco (Lead singer of The Commitments) and he brough a lot of Soul and fun to the part. His vocals were brilliant and he was clearly at home on the stage.
The three "backing vocalists" of the band, Ciara Mackey as Imelda, Eve Kitchingham as Natalie and Sarah Gardiner as Bernie were excellent. Their vocals and harmonies were so tight and blended, and when they each stepped forward to lead songs, they shone. Their characters were fun and brought a lot of humour to the stage.
It always adds an extra dimension to a show when you can see the instruments being played on stage, and the "band" certainly knew their stuff. I particularly enjoyed Connor Litten, as Dean on the Saxophone, seeing his journey from a shy, inexperienced Irish lad to a Jazz-riffing scene stealing saxophonist. I have to admit to being a big fan of the Saxohphone in general, and Connor was fantastic.
The story was driven by James Killeen as Jimmy Rabbitte, who leads the band as their Manager. A native Dubliner, James brought authenticity to the role and kept the story ticking along well. His relationship with onstage dad, "Jimmy's Da" (Nigel Pivaro) brought a lot of comedy and fun, as they bounced off eachother well.
The set was mutli-functional and well-designed. It really set the scene well and brought a touch of Irish charm, especially in the pub scenes.
All in all, The Commitments is a soul-packed celebration of live music, filled with Irish charm.
It is on at The Orchard Theatre, Dartford until Saturday 18th March, so if you love Soul music, Live music, and talented performers, then check it out.
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