| THE BLITZ KIDS SITE |
| TABOO REVIEWS |
| WHATSONSTAGE, JANUARY, 30, 2002 |
| If there's any justice in the West End, Taboo will be a monster hit. Is that statement a tad over the top? Probably. Do I still mean every word of it? Without a doubt. A bit of background for the uninitiated: Taboo is the musical debut by former Culture Club singer Boy George. Set in the decadent 1980s club scene (Taboo was the name of one of the era's most infamous clubs), it's a fictional story - about wannabe photographer Billy (Luke Evans) from Bromley who moves to London and falls in love with wannabe fashion designer Kim (Dianne Pilkington) - against which we also see the career trajectories of New Romantic icons Philip Sallon, Steve Strange, Leigh Bowery, Marilyn and George himself. The problems with Taboo mainly concern Mark Davies' book. Billy and Kim's romance builds and collapses quickly and unconvincingly and is frankly rather ho-hum. So, too, is the sub-plot involving Billy's emancipated mum (Gemma Craven). These and other sideline stories create an overly long feel, especially in the sombre, tie-up-all-the-loose-ends second act (where a final, completely unnecessary scene involving Hare Krishna's is the story's biggest let-down). In terms of timing, it doesn't help either that there are so many songs even all the bit characters get their "big numbers". That said, it's hard to begrudge any of these musical asides because - and here's Taboo's real strength - George's songs are fantastic. Combining poignancy with humour, clever lyrics and tunes you simply can't get out of your head, they dwarf any of the pop hits he produced in his 1980s heyday. I have so many personal favourites from the score, there isn't space to mention them all, but I'll throw in "Ode to Attention Seekers", "Guttersnipe", "Touched by the Hand of Cool" and "Pie in the Sky" for good measure. Taboo is also boosted by an enthusiastic company who, under Christopher Renshaw's buoyant direction, pack a punch vocally and visually. Particular stand-out performances come from Paul Baker as a wickedly witty and weathered Philip Sallon, Matt Lucas as the larger-than-life Leigh Bowery, Mark McGee as kittenish Marilyn, and Euan Morton as a true Boy George doppelganger, with the voice of an angel. Top marks too to Mike Nicholls' costumes, which are outrageous in the best possible sense, and to designer Tim Goodchild's remarkable transformation of a church hall into a cosy (if overheated) new venue. Despite its flaws, Taboo is colourful, vibrant and wonderfully infectious fun. If you're like me, by the end of the evening, you'll yearn to return to an era you thought you were glad to see the back of. And you'll also be saving up for the show CD (on the cards for a spring release) - because these new Boy George songs are ones you'll want to hear again and again. |
| Pop star and DJ Boy George has been joined by members of Queen for a charity showing of his new musical Taboo before its world première on Tuesday. The star penned the story of his rise to fame, and included colourful characters from the era such as Leigh Bowery, Steve Strange and Marilyn. Boy George fought a long battle against drugs Queen's Roger Taylor and Brian May hosted the charity night in aid of Child Welfare Society and the Mercury Phoenix Trust - an Aids charity set up in the name of the late Freddie Mercury. The première will be held at the newly opened Venue Theatre in London, and the public will be able to see the show from Wednesday. Boy George - real name George O'Dowd - rose to fame during the New Romantic era with his group Culture Club. The group hit the dizzy heights of chart success but Boy George came crashing down after becoming addicted to heroin. Matt Lucas is the larger-than-life Leigh Bowery Taboo aims to show the glamour of showbusiness as well as the dark side; the backstabbing and vanity which surrounded it at that time. It features a host of new songs written by Boy George as well as Culture Club's number one singles, Do You Really Want to Hurt Me and Karma Chameleon. Boy George has since quit drugs and relaunched himself as a successful club DJ. Open auditions were held for Taboo to find actors and singers to resemble the stars of the 80s. Euan Morton won the part of the dread-locked Boy George and Paul Baker plays club promoter Philip Salon. Brian May and Anita Dobson supported the charity night Comedian Matt Lucas, famed for his George Dawes character on the BBC's Shooting Stars, takes the role of the flamboyant performance artist Leigh Bowery, who died of an Aids-related illness in 1994. Boy George is following in the footsteps of pop duo The Pet Shop Boys, whose musical Closer to Heaven premièred in the West End in May. |
| BBC NEWS - JANUARY, 30, 2002 |
| TRUST THE DJ - JANUARY, 30, 2002 |
| From the moment you enter ‘The Venue’, the feel of an 80s London club is in full force with the décor and even the smells. Then there’s the suited bouncers directing you to the bars, the toilets and into the auditorium. Immediately you can see why this space was chosen. It fits the bill perfectly. Whilst the audience are finding their seats, various club ‘freaks’ appear, prowling and scowling, posing and pouting in true New Romantic style. Some are sitting in with the audience, some bitching with each other on the stage and some are sat at the working bar with the, if I’m not very much mistaken, lovely Zee Asha serving beverages. Suddenly a spotlight hits the back of the audience, and we are introduced to the night’s Master of Ceremonies, Mr. Philip Sallon, played superbly by Paul Baker. He leads us into fantastic opening song, ‘Ode to Attention Seekers’, which is performed whilst clambering over the audience to reach his kindred souls and minions on stage. We’re then taken to the somewhat less glamorous location of a living room in Bromley where we meet Billy (Luke Evans), a young man full of dreams of a career in photography, living in the suburbs with his folks, Josie and Derek (Gemma Craven and Mark White). His father thinks the idea of his son going into photography is ludicrous and loses his temper with Billy. Billy packs a bag and leaves for London. On his arrival who should he meet but Sallon and crew who of course can’t resist the lure of Billy’s snapping camera. Sallon takes Billy under his wing, telling him that he has some colourful friends, living in a squat who will take him in. At this point, we meet the Siouxsie Sioux-esque Kim (Dianne Pilkington) to who Billy is instantly attracted and George O’Dowd (Euan Morton) who appears in a flourish, in full Boadicea garb. The audience took a collective gasp at the likeness between Euan and George. The mannerisms, the makeup, even the voice are superb. Never was there a finer piece of casting. The only noticeable difference being height! From here on in fact and fiction are blurred together between Billy’s ambitions and George’s own goals. This is made clear with the song, ‘Stranger in This World’, which is sung by George, Josie and Billy. I think this song, which is one of the most moving in the show, really does strike a chord in the audience’s heart (and certainly had me holding back the tears). Next we meet Steve Strange (Drew Jaymson) holding court over his club, ‘Blitz’, deciding who is in and who isn’t, only just allowing George and crew in. This leads to the hysterical performance of ‘Fade to Grey’ by Visage, complete with a video parody with the be-scarfed dancer speaking bad French through the middle eight. Marilyn makes her entrance from the top of the club staircase with the rock-led ‘Genocide Peroxide’, a fantastic, almost Bowie-esque number, and immediately it’s clear that Mark McGee has captured the essence of Marilyn in a performance that Maz herself should be proud of. ‘I’ll Have You All’ and ‘Touched by the Hand of Cool’ are complete showstoppers performed by the superb Matt Lucas as the gorgeously larger-than-life Leigh Bowery. Yet again fact blurs with fiction, with Bowery lusting after Billy and doing all in his power to make him one of his protégés and at the same time making sure Kim doesn’t get him. Act Two opens with ‘Everything Taboo’, essentially a dance track, this really captures the sound and feel of the time when Taboo opened, including a scathing, though nonetheless funny swipe at Madonna’s ‘Vogue’. Other standout moments include Josie, Kim and Philip singing ‘Independent Woman’, Josie’s declaration of freedom, escaping the clutches of the husband who held her back. The superbly proud and majestic ‘Ich Bin Kunst (I am Art)’, Bowery as living art, and my personal favourites being ‘Out of Fashion’ sung by George, Steve Strange, Marilyn and Billy which has an almost Sondheim resonance to it and Sallon’s song ‘Petrified’; a big song for a big voice. There wasn’t one song in the whole show that didn’t trigger an emotion, a feeling or even a memory. Though I’ve been a fan of George’s work since the very beginning, I was unsure how he would move from popular music to musical theatre, but the songs stand strong in both genres, including the four songs from the Boy George/Culture Club back-catalogue (particularly ‘Il Adore’ sung beautifully by Gail Mackinnon). My one uncertainty was the love story between Billy and Kim. Though it produced a chance for some fabulous duets and did help to hold the fabric of the show together, I was left wondering if it featured too heavily as the factual story of our club heroes is fascinating and strong enough on its own. A final congratulation to the whole cast, especially Euan Morton, on their fantastic performance and of course George himself on a truly uplifting show. |