Terry Pratchett’s Soul Music is performed by Youth Music Theatre UK at the Rose Theatre, Kingston
Terry Pratchett’s Soul Music is performed by Youth Music Theatre UK at the Rose Theatre, Kingston, Surrey, from 28-31 August.
The Youth Music Theatre’s love-in with the rich, imaginative writing of Terry Pratchett, which began when Mort: The Musical played the Rose two years ago, continues with Soul Music, here a full-blown rock‘n’roll musical performed by an energetic, talented cast of 40, many of whom have never acted in a theatre before.
But thanks to the direction and patience of Luke Sheppard, who was in charge of Mort and a one-act version of Soul Music, Pratchett’s 16th Discworld novel, when the YMT road-tested it at Bracknell last year, you would never have guessed we were watching novices.
Sheppard, who directed In the Heights, a big hit at the Southwark Playhouse in May, and composer Craig Adams, whose inspired Therese Raquin score won unanimous praise at the Finborough and Park, are not yet ‘names’ unless you are a regular London Fringe follower, but watch this space: they are the future.
Whether or not these young performers, aged from 11 to 21, make it to the West End, they will forever be indebted to the two intense weeks of rehearsal, living, eating and drinking this show with these fine professional creatives in Kingston University’s halls of residence and then strutting their stuff at the Rose.
With stand-up comedian and writer Andrew Doyle adapting Pratchett’s book and writing the often-witty lyrics to Adams’ thrilling music, this is an ideal introduction for this year’s lucky youngsters to get their first break and, my, don’t they make the most of it.
Unless you are familiar with Pratchett’s work (and I am not), you might well wonder what the story is all about but, like many of his novels, Soul Music introduces an element of modern society (in this case rock‘n’roll stardom) into a magical, vaguely late medieval world peopled by Death, rats, ravens, a glamorous white horse, a Welsh imp who plays the harp, a dwarf called Glod, and goodness knows what else.
The biggest part of the Imp is excellently played by Joe Bence with the love interest in the hands of Grace Mouat’s Susan – both very good voices – but it is very much an ensemble piece and so many of the smaller roles are filled most promisingly as well.
It is a pity that 15-year-old Anton Mouzykantskii doesn’t have more to do as Mr Clete, but in his one big song in Act I he shows incredible polish and confidence, while diminutive Lily Woodhouse, only 12, is a real scene-stealer as Sergeant Colon.
All the main parts are sung lustily and well: Madeline Charlemagne is a striking Binky the Horse, Beth Atkin an extremely lively Miss Butts, while Curtis Medley as Glod and Bradley Dew as Lias, the other members of the Band With Rocks In, are bang on the money, as is Josh Taylor as their manager Dibbler.
A word too for Nitai Levi and Tyler Ephraim, both extremely entertaining as the voices and chief manipulators of the raven and rat puppets.
Choreography, no pushover with such a big, inexperienced cast, is in the experienced hands of Cressia Carre and the band under MD Adams – guitarists Nii Adu-Aryee, Christopher Jones, Edward Keeble and Tom Lish, with Laura Davies on trumpet and Cameron Jones-Humphrey on drums – never falters even though they have their hands full in a full-on show that lasts the best part of two and a half hours.
While admitting that this is not exactly my kind of music or my kind of musical (and is all that strobe lighting absolutely necessary?), there is never a dull moment, and, in an always absorbing and sometimes astonishing evening, sitting in at the birth of so many dreams is always a privilege.
Jeremy Chapman
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