Newly crowned as the West End’s Best New Musical at the WhatsOnStage Awards, Memphis the Musical is set in the world of underground R&B clubs in 1950s Tennessee. Killian Donnelly stars as Huey Calhoun, the white radio DJ who faces wrath – and outright racism – as he brings the clubs’ “race music” to wider audiences, and falls for nightclub singer Felicia Farrell (Beverley Knight).
David Bryan’s music (with lyrics co-written by book writer Joe DiPietro) is redolent of the age, cataloguing how the down and dirty R&B sound mixed with church gospel music, ended up producing the commercial rock‘n’roll genre that went on to take over the world. As the new release of the London cast recording demonstrates, Knight has never been better, as if her long and accomplished career as a soul singer was merely a warm-up for this role.
But this is far from a star vehicle for one lead singer; the whole ensemble’s vocal performances make Memphis the Musical one of the most musically engaging in the West End at the moment.
Scott Matthewman
* Memphis the Musical is booking at the Shaftesbury Theatre until 31 October 2015.
MEMPHIS the Musical – Original London Cast (First Night Records – CASTCD116)
Wow! Well what can I say? If you like soul, gospel and high power ballads, then you must get a copy of this original London cast album. At its helm is the powerhouse voice of the British Queen of Soul, Beverley Knight. This is not to detract from the rest of the cast who give her a run for her money. The cast, headed also by Killian Donnelly, includes Rolan Bell, Tyrone Huntley, Jason Pennycooke, Claire Machin, Mark Roper, Waylon Jacobs, all of whom have the back-up of a strong ensemble cast.
The biggest praise I can give the writers is that these songs sound as if they were actually standards of the day the musical takes place. They have captured it so well and are served brilliantly by a really outstanding cast of singers.
Tracks include: ‘The Music of My Soul’, ‘Ain’t Nothin’ But a Kiss’, ‘Everybody Wants to Be Black On a Saturday Night’, ‘Say a Prayer’ (my personal favourite), ‘Stand Up’ and ‘Tear Down the House’, to name but only a few of the 21 tracks on the CD. Being from First Night Records, there is a lovely insert booklet with lots of cast photos and the lyrics to the songs.
All in all, I would highly recommend this cast album to anyone who is a fan of soul, gospel or rock‘n’roll. I would also recommend you buy the actual CD because of the booklet.
Nick Wakeham
* The CD is available from the Shaftesbury Theatre and via First Night Records.
Readers may also be interested in:
Memphis the Musical – Shaftesbury Theatre – Review
Beverley Knight extends her run in Memphis the Musical – News
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