REVIEW
✭✭✭✭✭ 5/5
Lord of the Dance
A Lifetime of Standing Ovations
Cliffs Pavilion
Station Road, Southend on Sea, Essex, SS0 7RA
Tue 8 - Sun 13 Oct 2024
✭✭✭✭✭ 5/5
Lord of the Dance
A Lifetime of Standing Ovations
Cliffs Pavilion
Station Road, Southend on Sea, Essex, SS0 7RA
Tue 8 - Sun 13 Oct 2024
Who knew that dance can be such a thrilling spectacular?
Ever since the Irish dance spectacle of Riverdance graced our screens during the interval of the 1994 Eurovision contest, we have been swept away by this phenomenon. Under the direction of the creator Michael Flatley, there have been many incarnations, Riverdance, Lord of the Dance, Feet of Flames etc. but the light never dims.
In this version, the show is even more dramatic and show stopping. It opens with a video projection of the man himself explaining how, as a child, he always wanted to dance, and had to be restrained by his dance teachers. There were clips of him through the years and then the performance began.
It started with the Lord of the Dance music as ethereal figures in purple emerged out of the gloom holding lights and a sprite in gold appears playing her pipe. The story is an old one, good versus evil. The Lord of the Dance represents everything good and he must fight against the Dark Lord and his Warlords who are evil.
This story is then enacted through dance. There is foot-stomping, high-kicking, toe-tapping action, with the Dark Lord and his Stormtroopers storming across the stage, tapping in unison. The good Lord (Matt Smith) not that one, dances onto the stage and zips around it tapping and kicking to the choreography of his master, Michael Flatley, He nips in and out checking his army and even has an exciting dance duel with the Dark Lord.
The girls appear in their diaphanous costumes covered in sparkles and of course, along the way, the dresses are ripped off, and they dance in their black bikinis. Not to be out done, the good guys rip of their shirts to cheers from the audience.
This production is the most dramatic that I have seen, with video projections, pyrotechnics, and technical effects accompanying each section of the story. There is thunder and lightning, fiery furnaces, crashing of waves and gradually, pretty technicolour pastoral scenes with flowers and butterflies. I particularly liked the Hell’s Kitchen scene with the evil Warriors barnstorming amidst the fiery furnaces.
Along the way, soloist Celyn Cartwright, occasionally supported by a choir of performers, supplies beautiful live vocals. There is also excellent fiddle playing by Helena Gullan and Giada Costenaro Cunningham.
Just when you thought it was all over, a back projection of Michael appears via virtual reality. There in a white suit, in synchronised triplicate as he struts his stuff in a section called III Lords. Just in case we have forgotten what a brilliant dancer he is, he dances alongside two versions of himself, energetically tapping away in a fury. As he has in recent times suffered from ill health he is no longer physically appearing in shows, but this production has the master all over it as Creator, Producer, Director and Choreographer.
Finally, curtain call gave us another look at the ‘Rapid Fire’ display when all the dancers are in line and move as one, undulating wave to cheers from the audience.
As the title of this production infers, there was yet another standing ovation. I wonder if the late Sydney Carter who wrote a simple folk tune based on the Shaker song Simple Gifts now called Lord of the Dance, ever envisaged his song being used in an Irish dance extravaganza.
Review – Jacquee Storozynski-Toll
Lord of the Dance continues until Sunday 13th October.
7.45pm, 2.30pm, 2pm
Ticket’s available
Box Office: 0343 310 0030
£34.75 - £60.25
A transaction fee of up to £3.95 may apply to your order.
Cliffs Pavilion
Station Road, Southend on Sea, Essex, SS0 7RA
The English tour continues:-
Oct15 – 17 Oct
Aylesbury Waterside Theatre
Oct 18-20 Oct
Woking New Victoria Theatre
Oct 22- 24 Oct
Bournemouth Pavilion
Oct 25 -27 Oct
Sheffield City Hall
Oct 29 – 31 Oct
Leicester De Montfort Hall
Nov 1 – 3 Nov
Wimbledon New Theatre
In this version, the show is even more dramatic and show stopping. It opens with a video projection of the man himself explaining how, as a child, he always wanted to dance, and had to be restrained by his dance teachers. There were clips of him through the years and then the performance began.
It started with the Lord of the Dance music as ethereal figures in purple emerged out of the gloom holding lights and a sprite in gold appears playing her pipe. The story is an old one, good versus evil. The Lord of the Dance represents everything good and he must fight against the Dark Lord and his Warlords who are evil.
This story is then enacted through dance. There is foot-stomping, high-kicking, toe-tapping action, with the Dark Lord and his Stormtroopers storming across the stage, tapping in unison. The good Lord (Matt Smith) not that one, dances onto the stage and zips around it tapping and kicking to the choreography of his master, Michael Flatley, He nips in and out checking his army and even has an exciting dance duel with the Dark Lord.
The girls appear in their diaphanous costumes covered in sparkles and of course, along the way, the dresses are ripped off, and they dance in their black bikinis. Not to be out done, the good guys rip of their shirts to cheers from the audience.
This production is the most dramatic that I have seen, with video projections, pyrotechnics, and technical effects accompanying each section of the story. There is thunder and lightning, fiery furnaces, crashing of waves and gradually, pretty technicolour pastoral scenes with flowers and butterflies. I particularly liked the Hell’s Kitchen scene with the evil Warriors barnstorming amidst the fiery furnaces.
Along the way, soloist Celyn Cartwright, occasionally supported by a choir of performers, supplies beautiful live vocals. There is also excellent fiddle playing by Helena Gullan and Giada Costenaro Cunningham.
Just when you thought it was all over, a back projection of Michael appears via virtual reality. There in a white suit, in synchronised triplicate as he struts his stuff in a section called III Lords. Just in case we have forgotten what a brilliant dancer he is, he dances alongside two versions of himself, energetically tapping away in a fury. As he has in recent times suffered from ill health he is no longer physically appearing in shows, but this production has the master all over it as Creator, Producer, Director and Choreographer.
Finally, curtain call gave us another look at the ‘Rapid Fire’ display when all the dancers are in line and move as one, undulating wave to cheers from the audience.
As the title of this production infers, there was yet another standing ovation. I wonder if the late Sydney Carter who wrote a simple folk tune based on the Shaker song Simple Gifts now called Lord of the Dance, ever envisaged his song being used in an Irish dance extravaganza.
Review – Jacquee Storozynski-Toll
Lord of the Dance continues until Sunday 13th October.
7.45pm, 2.30pm, 2pm
Ticket’s available
Box Office: 0343 310 0030
£34.75 - £60.25
A transaction fee of up to £3.95 may apply to your order.
Cliffs Pavilion
Station Road, Southend on Sea, Essex, SS0 7RA
The English tour continues:-
Oct15 – 17 Oct
Aylesbury Waterside Theatre
Oct 18-20 Oct
Woking New Victoria Theatre
Oct 22- 24 Oct
Bournemouth Pavilion
Oct 25 -27 Oct
Sheffield City Hall
Oct 29 – 31 Oct
Leicester De Montfort Hall
Nov 1 – 3 Nov
Wimbledon New Theatre