Tonights The Night at the Sunderland Empire Review
Tonight’s The Night
The Rod Stewart Musical
Sunderland Empire
31 March to 5 April 2014
Reviewed by Amy Jones
Tonight Sunderland had been wowed by the production The Rod Stewart Musical Tonight’s the Night, written by Ben Elton.
The story is based on a young, introverted, shy worker called Stuart, played by Ben Heathcote, who finds himself working in a mechanics shop and not fitting in with his work colleagues. He has an overwhelming desire to be in a relationship with Mary, played by Jenna Lee–James. His shyness, and lack of confidence, prevents him from asking her out, so he decides to make a deal with the devil to become more like his idol Rod Stewart. In making this deal he has to sacrifice the innocent part of himself. It then sees young Stuart moving into the rock and roll lifestyle, all at the expense of his true love Mary. The scene with the devil is a particular highlight of the show.
Act 2 begins by bursting into Maggie May sung by the characters of Stu and Maggie May. This is a comical portal of a relationship between a younger man and older women mirroring the story behind the Rod Stewart song. As act 2 continues, Stu starts to regret the deal he made and realise how much it has cost him, leading him to ask for his old lifestyle back.
As you can imagine the man, Rod Stewart, himself is referenced throughout the show, at time he was made the butt of a lot of jokes. A lot of the humour is a very risqué and more suited to an adult audience.
The music and the story flow into one, at no time do the songs feel forced or out of place with the storyline. The cast all work together in harmony and you get a real sense that they are thoroughly enjoying performing the show. The character of Stoner, played by Michael Mckell, involves the crowd and brings a real sense of humour to the production. Rosie Heath, who plays Desiree, is also fantastic – her dancing and singing are spot on and she brings an extra spark to the ensemble cast. The whole choreography and staging are seamless and at times the staging changed so smoothly the audience were barely aware of it.
The ending is a megamix of several songs starting with one of Rod Stewarts most famous, Sailing. The audience is encouraged to stand up and participate. You could tell everyone in the audience loved the show as no one was left in their seats at the end! It was a brilliant feel good ending to this production.
Overall this show was fantastic and well worth a 5 out of 5. I would highly recommend this even if you don’t consider yourself the biggest Rod Stewart fan.
Rating: 5/5 
Tickets cost from £12.90 to £33.40 (plus £2.85 transaction fee).
For more information or to book tickets click here or call the box office on 0844 871 3022.
Sunderland Empire, High Street West, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, SR1 3EX
