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Author Topic: Local Hero - The Musical **SPOILER**  (Read 7965 times)

Offlinedmg

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Local Hero - The Musical **SPOILER**
« on: March 20, 2019, 01:11:10 PM »
Despite ScotRail trying their best to spoil my night I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Left the house at 18:00 (with the show starting at 19:30) for a 20 minute train journey and 10-15 walk to the Lyceum.  Ended up running to the Lyceum and into the lobby to hear the tannoy announce the two minute curtain call!  Oh, and the train home was delayed too.

The curtain raised what must’ve been bang on 19:30 as I had just checked my watch running down Lothian Road a moment earlier to reveal a very sparse set.  This is pretty typical so I was interested to see how it would evolve and bit by bit pieces were added and taken away by the actors.  Between scenes actors would carry on their own props like tables, chairs, fake rabbits (LOL) etc.  If you’ve been to the theatre before this will be nothing new but having seen this I can’t imagine it benefitting from a bigger production as Mark has suggested.

Now to the music:  A Barrel of Crude is a good opener to the show with the whole ensemble taking part but there were a few numbers that stood, one which was a real highlight:  Filthy Dirty Rich.  This was started by Gordon after he had the conversation with Mac about buying the village.  He put the papers down, gasped then jumped up onto the table and started singing, followed by Stella and then the rest of the cast.  It was a strong performance from Matthew Pidgeon.

Another fine showing was by Julian Forsyth in the, what must be coveted, role of Ben the beachcomber.  Fulton MacKay truly lives on through Forsyth.  He did a nice slow tempo number Cheerio Away You Go which started with a funny line from Stella where she said to Mac: “Cheerio, it’s Gaelic for f*** off!”  There’s quite a lot of humour in the show too.  The whole cast do a fine job and really bond with the audience but these were the two standout performances for me. 

As for the playing of the original Local Hero tunes, well act I ends with a variation of Wild Theme played on a whistle with snare drum - very “Scots Regiment” sounding.  This lasts only about 30 seconds as a teaser and the audience obviously love it because you can hear them whispering!  Then during the final scene and as the audience are leaving, the band are playing Going Home (minus sax) and after the actors take their bows they open the doors behind the stage to reveal the band playing away.  The audience are clapping their hands along with the music at this point.  They do a great job but of course there’s only one Mark Knopfler.

Overall I think they did a remarkable job of translating this to the stage.  I couldn’t imagine how it could be done but they did it!  I’m not a fan of musicals but I tend to think there are some musicals that have a story used an excuse to drive the songs.  This has both a great story and great songs.  Perhaps an issue it may have is that although I thought the songs were good I never left singing them, much like most Knopfler songs.  In the most successful musicals they always have catchy songs.  I can certainly recommend this to any Knopfler fan even if they don’t like musicals because there is plenty dialogue and it stays faithful to the well-loved film.  If you haven’t already booked and were thinking about it think no more and Get A Move On!

P.S.  The song You Can't Eat the Scenery was obviously cut from the ceilidh scene where the Russian said "it's nice here, but you can't eat the scenery."
« Last Edit: March 20, 2019, 07:52:44 PM by dmg »
"I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order."

Offlinesuperval99

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Re: Local Hero - The Musical **SPOILER**
« Reply #1 on: March 20, 2019, 01:20:10 PM »
Thank you, dmg!   I knew I could trust your judgement.  Now I want to see it more than ever!   Roll on 10th April. :)
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Offlinejbaent

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Re: Local Hero - The Musical **SPOILER**
« Reply #2 on: March 20, 2019, 01:24:23 PM »
Thanks for the review, I'm glad that you made it on time, really really on time  :lol

I'm surprised about the actors coming in and out with what is needed for their scenes. One thing is representing the beach, the pub, the harbour etc, but this is quite a surprising way... Iwonder if they would do that also at the Old Vic in London next year.

The two songs broadcasted by BBC Scotland sound nice, maybe not what you expect by MK but this is a musical, something MK had never done before so it's hard to say what to expect, however, "Cheerie away ye go" sounds quite Knopfler to me.

I'm very much looking forward to attend my show in less than three weeks. Thanks again for the review!
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Offlinedmg

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Re: Local Hero - The Musical **SPOILER**
« Reply #3 on: March 20, 2019, 01:32:16 PM »
Thanks for the review, I'm glad that you made it on time, really really on time  :lol

I'm surprised about the actors coming in and out with what is needed for their scenes. One thing is representing the beach, the pub, the harbour etc, but this is quite a surprising way... Iwonder if they would do that also at the Old Vic in London next year.

The two songs broadcasted by BBC Scotland sound nice, maybe not what you expect by MK but this is a musical, something MK had never done before so it's hard to say what to expect, however, "Cheerie away ye go" sounds quite Knopfler to me.

I'm very much looking forward to attend my show in less than three weeks. Thanks again for the review!

Carrying on your own props is quite normal in a play.  It doesn't hold up the action or anything and they usually do it outwith the spotlight so you can hardly see them.  It's all well worked out.
"I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order."

Offlinejbaent

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Re: Local Hero - The Musical **SPOILER**
« Reply #4 on: March 20, 2019, 01:40:34 PM »
I was thinking in some plays that have two or three "sceneries" which used to be a big photograph or a paint that work as a background for the concrete scene. I guessed that they might had used one of a beach, other for the pub etc but if it works...

You are right, I've seen that in other plays, but always in a small scale plays. This one seems a big one by the people involved.

And... what about the band? i read somewhere that there are nine guitar players... which sounds as too much!
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Offlinedmg

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Re: Local Hero - The Musical **SPOILER**
« Reply #5 on: March 20, 2019, 02:55:17 PM »
I was thinking in some plays that have two or three "sceneries" which used to be a big photograph or a paint that work as a background for the concrete scene. I guessed that they might had used one of a beach, other for the pub etc but if it works...

You are right, I've seen that in other plays, but always in a small scale plays. This one seems a big one by the people involved.

And... what about the band? i read somewhere that there are nine guitar players... which sounds as too much!

Of course, there were background projections as well as sound effects which worked well and for the beach scene old Ben sat on an old worn-out chair with a crate next to it.  Pretty obvious he was on the beach. Everything was very well done and didn't compromise from being a small-scale production at all.  If anything it was a benefit as the film was also small-scale, low budget.  Last year during the Fringe I watched a performance of Our Man In Havana on a tiny stage where the only prop was a vacuum cleaner and it was amazing!

When the doors opened to reveal the band it was difficult to make them out from where I was sitting but I couldn't imagine nine guitar players fitting in there!
"I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order."

Offlinejbaent

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Re: Local Hero - The Musical **SPOILER**
« Reply #6 on: March 21, 2019, 12:58:18 PM »
Curious thing is that Ben has a song at the first act, actually song number 4, when his character was one of the last, if not the last, to appear in the film. Looks like the character is presented pretty early in this adaptation.
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Offlinedmg

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Re: Local Hero - The Musical **SPOILER**
« Reply #7 on: March 21, 2019, 01:07:30 PM »
Curious thing is that Ben has a song at the first act, actually song number 4, when his character was one of the last, if not the last, to appear in the film. Looks like the character is presented pretty early in this adaptation.

Yes, it's a wee while since I've seen the film but from memory there are parts that pretty much follow memorable scenes in the film exactly and yet other parts have been changed, but not so much that it alters the story in any way.  Overall I would say it is as faithful to the film as a stage adaptation could be.
"I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order."

Offlinejbaent

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Re: Local Hero - The Musical **SPOILER**
« Reply #8 on: March 21, 2019, 01:12:02 PM »
Curious thing is that Ben has a song at the first act, actually song number 4, when his character was one of the last, if not the last, to appear in the film. Looks like the character is presented pretty early in this adaptation.

Yes, it's a wee while since I've seen the film but from memory there are parts that pretty much follow memorable scenes in the film exactly and yet other parts have been changed, but not so much that it alters the story in any way.  Overall I would say it is as faithful to the film as a stage adaptation could be.

In the film I recall that Ben is what it's called nowadays "a twist", as near the end of the film when everybody thinks they would sell the village, the twist is that they can't as the Beach is property of Ben... If he appears so early in the musical, his character as the final twist loose that character. Probably they thought it works better to do it that way instead.
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Offlinedmg

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Re: Local Hero - The Musical **SPOILER**
« Reply #9 on: March 21, 2019, 01:36:14 PM »
Curious thing is that Ben has a song at the first act, actually song number 4, when his character was one of the last, if not the last, to appear in the film. Looks like the character is presented pretty early in this adaptation.

Yes, it's a wee while since I've seen the film but from memory there are parts that pretty much follow memorable scenes in the film exactly and yet other parts have been changed, but not so much that it alters the story in any way.  Overall I would say it is as faithful to the film as a stage adaptation could be.

In the film I recall that Ben is what it's called nowadays "a twist", as near the end of the film when everybody thinks they would sell the village, the twist is that they can't as the Beach is property of Ben... If he appears so early in the musical, his character as the final twist loose that character. Probably they thought it works better to do it that way instead.

It's really just a plot twist though - when the character is introduced is neither here nor there IMO.  It's such a great character that I think it deserves a larger part in the story.
"I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order."

Offlinejbaent

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Re: Local Hero - The Musical **SPOILER**
« Reply #10 on: March 21, 2019, 10:09:17 PM »
And... The guy on the motorbike. That's one of the funniest things from the film. That guy that everytime the characters go out for a walk, the guy is riding his motorbike fast and they have to avoid him!

I guess that joke is not in the musical.
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Offlinedmg

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Re: Local Hero - The Musical **SPOILER**
« Reply #11 on: March 22, 2019, 02:18:55 PM »
And... The guy on the motorbike. That's one of the funniest things from the film. That guy that everytime the characters go out for a walk, the guy is riding his motorbike fast and they have to avoid him!

I guess that joke is not in the musical.

It's there by sound effect, but obviously not seen.  They omitted the military aircraft testing though.
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OfflineRobson

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Re: Local Hero - The Musical **SPOILER**
« Reply #12 on: March 23, 2019, 01:35:06 PM »
And... The guy on the motorbike. That's one of the funniest things from the film. That guy that everytime the characters go out for a walk, the guy is riding his motorbike fast and they have to avoid him!

I guess that joke is not in the musical.

I really like this scene 8)
I know the way I can see by the moonlight
Clear as the day
Now come on woman, come follow me home

OfflineKnopflerfan

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Re: Local Hero - The Musical **SPOILER**
« Reply #13 on: March 23, 2019, 10:38:34 PM »
Wow, thanks DMG - roll on the 10th April!!!
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