REVIEW BY LYNN MORRIS
When the West end production of Taboo closed its doors on April 26th 2003 if was a very sad day for the huge following of Taboo freaks! At least there was the tour to look forward to and for some lucky fans the Broadway production of Taboo. I have written a brief insight into the Taboo UK Tour below, but for full reviews of the opening night, press reviews etc please visit :
www.taboo-unofficial.co.uk
The Taboo UK Tour previewed at the Lowry Theatre in Salford Quays, Manchester on 11th December 2003 and after a month at the Lowry (till 11th January 2004) toured the length and breadth of the UK and is due to finish at the Liverpool Empire, Liverpool on 10th July 2004. Many of us Taboo fans were concerned that the show would not live up to the West End version when performed in a larger theatre as The Venue was such a small and intimate place and a perfect setting for the show. We had no need to worry, the tour has transferred really well to the larger theatres – in fact I now prefer the Tour Version!!! The show is brilliant, colourful, emotional and funny – a must for all fans of the 80’s and 80’s music. Most of the songs are new, but a few old favourites are there, including “Do you really want to hurt me”, “Church of the Poisoned Mind”, “Karma Chameleon”, Bow Down Mister” and “Fade to Grey”.
The Tour show, again directed by Christopher Renshaw, sticks pretty much to the original West End script (book by Mark Davies and music/lyrics by Boy George) which tells the story of characters from the 1980’s New Romantic Period including real life characters Boy George, Leigh Bowery, Marilyn, Philip Salon and Steve Strange. The main storyline from Mark Davies’ book follows the exploits of fictitious character Billy James who leaves home in Bromley to seek his fortune in the bright lights of London and meets another fictitious character Kim and all the above characters along the way. The new costumes again designed by Mike Nicholls and David Cabaret are wonderful, particularly Leigh Bowery’s outfits which are very accurate copies of his original costumes.
Many of the Original cast of the West End show have joined the Tour. Stephen Ashfield who played Boy George during part of the West End run has returned to the role. His portrayal of “Boy George” is amazing; he has really grown into the character since the West End and totally captivates the audience whenever he is on the stage. His voice is powerful & clear and he brings such emotion to the songs. To me he is the star of the show! Drew Jaymson who played “Steve Strange” in the original production returns to play an excellent “Philip Salon” amusing the audience with his jokes & asides throughout the show. His character involves much interaction with the audience, which Drew seems to thrive on!!! The role of “ Billy” has been played excellently by both Declan Bennett and Luke Evans, again from the original production. Mark Little and Julian Clary have both returned to the role of “Leigh Bowery”, both playing the character in their individual ways and both bringing tremendous humour to the part. James Gillan’s portrayal of “Marilyn” is totally brilliant: he brings both humour and emotion to the character and has such a beautiful voice. Emma Bispham, Jody Butterworth, Ben Draper, Michele Hooper and Robert Shelley have also returned to the Tour cast after being in the West End production. New actors and actresses joining the cast are Ashleigh Gray, James Gillan, Gareth Heesom, Rebecca Mckinnis , Steven Osbourne, Jason Packett as Jacqui Rae and James Templeton.
www.taboo-unofficial.co.uk
– by far the best site to visit for Everything Taboo!!!
SPECIAL THANKS TO LYNN MORRIS