Cast
Older Steve Marriott – Chris Simmons
Young Steve Marriott – Samuel Pope
Ronnie Lane – Stanton Wright
Ian McLagan – Josh Maddison
Kenney Jones – Stefan Edwards
Kay Marriott – Carol Harrison
Venue: Sunderland Empire
Date: Thursday 20th April 2017
All or Nothing is based on the life of Steve Marriott and the rise of the Small Faces the band he was the lead singer for, the story we see takes place in the 1960s. It was certainly an incredible time for British Rock Bands and I am pretty sure that is the era that I should have lived in, I really do love the rock music from then. It is also a great way to then be introduced to more bands now with musicals being made about them.
It just so happened that at the end of the show and during the audiences chance to join in as everyone rocked out that I found out it was actually the anniversary of Steve Marriott’s death, 26 years to the exact date. That certainly made it even more emotional having just watched the rise and fall of his young life and becoming a star. I did find myself very close to tears with the final scene, it really was very hard-hitting and upsetting.
I think the only issue that this show might have is that it is in the same mold as Sunny Afternoon the story of The Kinks. It just shows how much the bands were screwed over in the 60s by the managers who were not paying and giving them the right amount of money. With teenagers really creating such an impact on rock music in the 60s, certainly something that will never happen again!
Performance wise both Chris Simmons and Samuel Pope were outstanding as Steve Marriott. Getting across his cheeky cockney side in such a fantastic way, often both on stage at the same time as the story is told from the older Steve looking back at his early life and the big mistake he had made. This helped the flow of the story and filled in the gaps between the very impressive songs. I will admit that I did not really recognize any apart from All or Nothing. But I see this as then opening up another band that I can listen to the music of. There’s certainly something still special about live music from a band and if that is happening less in concerts now then the theater seems to be a very good place to catch this type of music now.
I really do enjoy going to see a new musical, especially when it has so much passion pumped into it as All or Nothing does. Refreshing to learn about a band from years ago and I will admit that I went into the show not having a lot of background knowledge about Small Faces at all. The thing with that is the show has a brilliant way of telling the story.
The tour is going to be around the UK until July 2017 – Dates Here so why not catch it when it comes to a Theatre near you?
Advertisements