Glenn Adamson and Natalie May Paris in Total Eclipse at the London Coliseum. Picture: Danny Kaan
Total Eclipse: Symphonic Jim Steinman was performed at the London Coliseum.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
This one-night gala from producers Tyce Green with Darren Bell and Sam Quested was a hugely dynamic, slick event with strong visuals matching an array of aural sensations.
Driven by the sentiment ‘there’s always something magic, there’s always something new’ and that ‘rock ‘n’ roll dreams can come true’, and shot through with a line-up of well-known performers, director Chris Clegg curated a heartfelt tribute to both Jim Steinman and his British fandom.
Many Steinman followers were totally enthralled at moments in this spectacular concert. Witnessing their pleasure was a joy. But others wanted the volume turned down for a better experience, having come to hear the songs, either as long-term fans looking forward to their favourite numbers or as admirers of particular artists performing.
If the singers’ vocals had been clearer, much of Act I would have been enhanced. The all-new instrumental arrangements couldn’t always be fully appreciated either. Some of those that did stand out were a little clichéd: the heavenly sound of flutes, harp glissandi and soprano backing vocals, contrasting with the fires of hell (and ‘ashes to prove it’) created by the rock band.
The best moments were when savagely pumping electric guitars, paired with the energetic elaborations of earthy lower strings and constant variety in the drumming, shone against vibrant colouring from the six backing singers ‘Capital Voices’. Everything was tightly managed by musical director Jack Bennett, also one of the arrangers. Other numbers were set by Andrew Jones, performing on keyboards.
Some really fine theatrical singing delighted in solo numbers. Most effective were the ‘Catwoman’s Song’ from the aborted Batman: The Musical, with its powerful binarising of life and death brought effectively to attention by verismo-style diction from Danielle Steers, and the Country-style rocking ‘n’ grieving, yearning velvety tones which marked out Grant Zavitkovsky’s rendition of ‘Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad’ (‘Bat Out of Hell’). Further artists hyped up the atmosphere with well-honed theatrics.
‘Holding Out For a Hero’ (Footloose) notably packed a punch to end Act I. The Scottish dynamo RED demonstrated her force as a team player in interacting infectiously with the stage musicians and scored the biggest applause of the night with a truly irresistible performance of this powerful anthem.
Country-style tassels adorned Zoe Birkett in the dynamic duet she performed with Robbie Waugh, ‘Dead Ringer for Love’. Elsewhere, his and hers leather jumpsuits fuelled the adrenaline of ‘Paradise by the Dashboard Light’ during which Adamson and Natalie May Paris entertained with cheeky double entendres and a bit more acting than in other numbers. Songs from ‘Bat Out of Hell’ got the audience going the most.
Gender politics which surfaced in Green and Paris’ duet ‘Good Girls Go to Heaven’ (‘Bat Out of Hell II’) were underscored in the song ‘Safe Sex’ (Pandora’s Box). Karine Hannah did her best to temper its challenging message from the post-AIDS era with a professional performance focusing on the lack of emotional control prompted by passionate love. The inclusion of this song seemed an odd choice with lyrics at best jarring, and at worst comic, in the context of today’s resurgent anti-feminism.
The second half of the concert brought greater variety. Pianist Rob Barron’s medley – an intermission in ‘Pray Lewd’ (Pandora’s Box) – brought welcome respite from dominant sound levels as he successfully gathered popular and classical musical riffs on Steinman hits and showered them back in true showman-style.
This relaxing moment was unfortunately followed by the overamped Gothic romance of Brontë inspiration in ‘It’s All Coming Back to Me Now’ (‘Bat Out of Hell III’). Even with nice lyrical orchestral framing, it did not resonate well despite powerful vocals from Christina Bianco singing with Green.
But, hey, you know that moment when you just feel some musical fireworks are in order, when ‘I’d Do Anything For Love’? Well, it arrived at the start of the penultimate number but the production team didn’t ‘do that’, leaving it to lighting director Jim Weir to fix the sensation.
Adamson rebounded onto the stage, soared captivatingly above the background sound levels with intense vocal quality, mesmerising pinstripes and dazzling leg action, making everything seem larger than life. Into this arena strode the commanding Birkett to encourage loss of control through rock ‘n’ roll. Trombones began waving as audience got to their feet to explore just how far they could go with heightened community singing.
The finale, pitched as an encore but actually printed on the setlist, was the massive power ballad hit of the show’s title: ‘Total Eclipse’ (‘Faster Than the Speed of Night’). This made a beautiful ending for the show.
The promise of more ultimately brought a sublime performance from Karine Hannah in white witch cape to get “to the end of the line”. This powerful evocation of female passion is well-embedded in British hearts from its 1980s association with Bonnie Tyler, as well as its appearance in the TV series Glee. Emotions lurched from one extreme to another as falling in love then falling apart was tenderly punctuated by duetting of the ‘turning around’ lines from Zavitkovsky. Robbie Waugh and Zavitkovsky strengthened the ensemble for the concluding chorus.
With the Steinman torches well and truly lit, this London audience stomped, gestured and roared.
Charlotte Purkis
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