Cilla The Musical at the Royal & Derngate, Northampton Review

Reviewed by Janine Rumble

WOW!!! What a brilliant feel good factor of a musical that had me tapping my feet from start to finish.

Cilla The Musical is the heart-warming musical adaptation of the ITV mini-series charting Cilla’s rise to fame. From working as a typist and a coat check girl and sometimes singing at the famous Cavern Club in her hometown of Liverpool, through to her being introduced to her future manager, Brian Epstein by John Lennon and her becoming the singer and television star we know and love, all set to a brilliant soundtrack of songs from the era. Songs that include some of Cilla’s greatest hits Anyone Who Had a Heart, Alfie and Something Tells Me and songs by The Beatles.

Cilla The Musical had something for everyone; amazing singing, brilliant musical performances and songs that take you back in time and make you tap your feet or want to get up and dance, laughter, emotional moments, all cleverly combined to tell the story of ambition, fame and ultimately love.

Kara Lily Hayworth who played Cilla was truly amazing. Her voice, the power that she has when she sings and her acting made her very believable as Cilla. She had Cilla’s Liverpool accent down to a tee. At times, I closed my eyes, and could have sworn that if I did not know any better, that it could have been Cilla herself standing up there on the stage. She captured her mannerisms too and how she would move her arms as she sang. It was quite spooky how alike she was to the real Cilla.

Carl Au, as Cilla’s husband and manager Bobby, was brilliant and very believable in his role. You could feel the connection between the two characters and I was swept along in the emotion of their growing romance. It was wonderful to watch how the character grew from a young cheeky boy to a supportive, mature man.

Andrew Lancel, portrayed Cilla’s enigmatic manager Brian Epstein. Talking to other theatre goers, they remarked upon how Andrew had captured the voice and the mannerisms of Brian.

Pauline Fleming and Neil McDonald who played Cilla’s parents brought comedy to the performance and much of my laughter was for Cilla’s Dad, who had the whole audience laughing too.

The rest of the cast were brilliant, especially the musicians and the singers, who portrayed The Beatles, the Big Three, Gerry and the Pacemakers. They kept the music coming with songs from the 60s and early 70s.

The stage, backgrounds and scene sets were extremely clever. The main set resembled the Cavern Club, with its dark bricked wall and dark archways. The lighting in the theatre itself was kept quite dark to give the illusion and the feel that we were in the Cavern Club. Throughout the show, because of this, I never felt like an audience member at the theatre watching a show, I felt like I was there and that I was a part of it all. It was a very intimate feeling. The sets for Cilla’s house and the Abbey Road recording studios were all very cleverly done and kept very simple, as were other scene sets.

The costumes and wigs were amazing and were very in keeping with the era. As the show charted different times, it involved the main characters to change their costumes frequently and this added to the authenticity of the changes in the time period. Extra authenticity has gone into the actors learning to speak with a Liverpool accent so that it is believable.

I thoroughly enjoyed the show from start to finish and was swept along with it all, tapping my foot one minute, laughing the next and then wiping a tear after that, a real rollercoaster of emotions, culminating in joining other audience members dancing in the aisles for the finale.

I would highly recommend that everyone should go and see this theatre production by Bill Kenwright and Bob Thomson and written by Bafta Award Winning, Jeff Pope.

You should definitely see it if you are a fan of Cilla Black, or if you are a fan of the 60s/70s and love the music in that era or if you just fancy a good night out. You will not regret it.

I smiled as I left the theatre and enjoyed listening to the people leaving and hearing them exclaiming how good the show was.

The show is only on at Royal & Derngate until Saturday 24th February, so I suggest you ring up and book your tickets soon.

The Cilla The Musical Tour is also appearing in Newcastle, Chester, Bristol, Woking, Nottingham, Aylesbury and Norwich with more dates to be confirmed. So get to a theatre near you to see it. I promise you will not be disappointed.

Rating: 4.5/5

Tickets cost from £17 to £41 (booking fees may apply).

Cilla The Musical is at the Royal & Derngate in Northampton from 20-24 February 2018, for more information or to book tickets visit www.royalandderngate.co.uk or call the box office on 01604 624811.

Royal & Derngate, Guildhall Road, Northampton, NN1 1DP | 01604 624811