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Torsten The Beautiful Libertine Live Show Reviews
Re: Torsten The Beautiful Libertine Live Show Reviews
Torsten: The Beautiful Libertine, Above the Stag – Review
Author: Luke Redhead in Drama, Off West End, Reviews 9 March 2016 0 Comments
Pros: Andy Bell’s performance was good, bringing his new array of music to this brand new piece.
Cons: Language was way too sexually driven, to the point of just plain disgusting. Plus one of the supporting actors relying readily on his script without learning the material beforehand.
Summary
Poor
A mixed bag: a flamboyant show but with some unfortunate flaws.
User Rating: 3.9 ( 1 votes)
Set beneath the rails of the Vauxhall tube, Above the Stag welcomes Andy Bell, starring in a new piece written by Barney Ashton entitled Torsten: The Beautiful Libertine. We were first welcomed by a bright and colourful set consisting of fallen disco balls, picture-less frames and hanging lamps attached to the ceiling. All these elements, plus of course Bell’s union jack printed throne, set the stage gracefully for the singer to come on to. He was accompanied by his cast mates: the glamorous Lana P, who was not all afraid of being rather touchy feely with the front row, and her counterpart Peter Straker, the over the top and deep-voiced note taker of the performance. The performance was divided into a majority of singing, but also had scenes that seemed personal and relatable to Bell’s music.
Unusually, the style of music on offer was not Bell’s typical electro-pumped 80’s classic style that we all remember him for. It was more of a musical-theatre-meets-cabaret inspired take, which Bell sang with great ease. He still has his defined upper register. Some of the material was challenging in scale , but he passed through it without a stumble. However, all the songs on offer were very much similar in rhythm and meaning, and as a result felt like you were pressing rewind on a stereo several times over.
Furthermore this piece is not at all for the faint hearted. The language is ghastly, referencing a whole heap of sexual innuendos I cannot even repeat in this review. The bleep censor would frankly have had a field day at this performance. It was slightly unnerving at points, and although done in a somewhat relaxed manner, it just made you feel uncomfortable as a viewer. As was the fact that one of the lead actors had a script tucked away ‘secretly’ in his notebook and looked as if he were trying to trick the audience into thinking he actually learnt the lines, something actors tend to do. Yet you did not need a magnifying glass to see those green highlighter marks on his script slapping you in the face every time he lost his footing.
Anyway on a more positive note it was nice to see Andy Bell return to the stage, with his passion for music still so evidently clear. Considering Bell is not an actor, and most predominantly a singer, he executed the drama of the piece with a real honesty and truthfulness that tied the whole production together. Without this, the performance could possibly have spiralled into total chaos, however Bell managed to ground it somewhat, which was appreciated by all I think.
A mixed bag really, fun and extraordinarily flamboyant on one hand and rather an attempt at trying to desperately receive laughs from the audience on the other. As Above the Stag prides itself on being Britain’s number one LGBT theatre, I think the choice to hold the performance there was a smart one and provided a space in which the music had a great deal more meaning and purpose. Plus the theatre is extremely friendly and clearly all the staff take a lot of pleasure working in such a diverse place, so that was nice to see.
Written By: Barney Ashton
Music By: Christopher Frost
Director: Robert McWhir
Musical Director: Iain Vince Gatt
Running Until: 4 March 2016
More Shows At: abovethestag.com
Author: Luke Redhead in Drama, Off West End, Reviews 9 March 2016 0 Comments
Pros: Andy Bell’s performance was good, bringing his new array of music to this brand new piece.
Cons: Language was way too sexually driven, to the point of just plain disgusting. Plus one of the supporting actors relying readily on his script without learning the material beforehand.
Summary
Poor
A mixed bag: a flamboyant show but with some unfortunate flaws.
User Rating: 3.9 ( 1 votes)
Set beneath the rails of the Vauxhall tube, Above the Stag welcomes Andy Bell, starring in a new piece written by Barney Ashton entitled Torsten: The Beautiful Libertine. We were first welcomed by a bright and colourful set consisting of fallen disco balls, picture-less frames and hanging lamps attached to the ceiling. All these elements, plus of course Bell’s union jack printed throne, set the stage gracefully for the singer to come on to. He was accompanied by his cast mates: the glamorous Lana P, who was not all afraid of being rather touchy feely with the front row, and her counterpart Peter Straker, the over the top and deep-voiced note taker of the performance. The performance was divided into a majority of singing, but also had scenes that seemed personal and relatable to Bell’s music.
Unusually, the style of music on offer was not Bell’s typical electro-pumped 80’s classic style that we all remember him for. It was more of a musical-theatre-meets-cabaret inspired take, which Bell sang with great ease. He still has his defined upper register. Some of the material was challenging in scale , but he passed through it without a stumble. However, all the songs on offer were very much similar in rhythm and meaning, and as a result felt like you were pressing rewind on a stereo several times over.
Furthermore this piece is not at all for the faint hearted. The language is ghastly, referencing a whole heap of sexual innuendos I cannot even repeat in this review. The bleep censor would frankly have had a field day at this performance. It was slightly unnerving at points, and although done in a somewhat relaxed manner, it just made you feel uncomfortable as a viewer. As was the fact that one of the lead actors had a script tucked away ‘secretly’ in his notebook and looked as if he were trying to trick the audience into thinking he actually learnt the lines, something actors tend to do. Yet you did not need a magnifying glass to see those green highlighter marks on his script slapping you in the face every time he lost his footing.
Anyway on a more positive note it was nice to see Andy Bell return to the stage, with his passion for music still so evidently clear. Considering Bell is not an actor, and most predominantly a singer, he executed the drama of the piece with a real honesty and truthfulness that tied the whole production together. Without this, the performance could possibly have spiralled into total chaos, however Bell managed to ground it somewhat, which was appreciated by all I think.
A mixed bag really, fun and extraordinarily flamboyant on one hand and rather an attempt at trying to desperately receive laughs from the audience on the other. As Above the Stag prides itself on being Britain’s number one LGBT theatre, I think the choice to hold the performance there was a smart one and provided a space in which the music had a great deal more meaning and purpose. Plus the theatre is extremely friendly and clearly all the staff take a lot of pleasure working in such a diverse place, so that was nice to see.
Written By: Barney Ashton
Music By: Christopher Frost
Director: Robert McWhir
Musical Director: Iain Vince Gatt
Running Until: 4 March 2016
More Shows At: abovethestag.com
From Wonderland to the World Beyond
Re: Torsten The Beautiful Libertine Live Show Reviews
Rehearsal photos
I was lucky enough to attend the evening preview night at Above The Stag.
I was fortunate to meet and have a chat with songwriter Barney before the show
Due to Barney not allowing photos to be taken for fear of spooling other people's enjoyment of any future shows we respected that and didn't take any photos of the magnificent stage set in such a small area,the theatre only holds 70 people of which Joey was one who came over from The USA
This show has new songs from the 2nd album The Beautiful Libertine,3 new songs not on the album and 2 from the first album,plus narration between songs with plenty of laughs
No photos inside but I couldn't resist this cheeky snap
Here's me with Lana Pillay who did a great job,this is me trying to out Pout her
Plus the must have shot with the main man
Andy was charming as usual and gladly chatted away after the show,the fellow fans I met up with all had nothing but good to say about it,get your last remaining tickets if you need them you will be pleased you did.
Signed CD inlay
I was lucky enough to attend the evening preview night at Above The Stag.
I was fortunate to meet and have a chat with songwriter Barney before the show
Due to Barney not allowing photos to be taken for fear of spooling other people's enjoyment of any future shows we respected that and didn't take any photos of the magnificent stage set in such a small area,the theatre only holds 70 people of which Joey was one who came over from The USA
This show has new songs from the 2nd album The Beautiful Libertine,3 new songs not on the album and 2 from the first album,plus narration between songs with plenty of laughs
No photos inside but I couldn't resist this cheeky snap
Here's me with Lana Pillay who did a great job,this is me trying to out Pout her
Plus the must have shot with the main man
Andy was charming as usual and gladly chatted away after the show,the fellow fans I met up with all had nothing but good to say about it,get your last remaining tickets if you need them you will be pleased you did.
Signed CD inlay
From Wonderland to the World Beyond
