Sunny Afternoon, the show based on the music of The Kinks – that was my era!
The 60s. When I was a teenager, started work, fell in love and got married. The era of miniskirts, Panstick, op-art and Radio Caroline.
I never did see The Kinks perform live, and meeting them in the Piccadilly Hotel, Manchester, in the 70’s doesn’t count. (They were charming, by the way).
So reliving their music, their sound, their story at The Harold Pinter Theatre, in London’s West End was totally fun-filled nostalgia.
The songs were all there – “You Really Got Me”, “All Day and All of the Night”, “Tired of Waiting for You”, “Dedicated Follower of Fashion”, “Sunny Afternoon” and “Waterloo Sunset” – all with lyrics telling the story of Ray Davies’ life. And with a totally unexpected surprise, which I absolutely adored – the singing of “Days” in A Cappella.
Here were the London brothers from Muswell Hill playing their music and getting ripped off by management and everyone else who wanted a cut of their talent. The bitterness was written between the lines, but fortunately, it didn’t overwhelm the joyful production. There, on the extended stage, the dynamic cast sung, danced and played out every emotion and action of The Kinks superstar lifestyle.
Ray Davies, who as his brother Dave says, “thinks in music” wrote additional songs for the show to create the bridges and tell more of the story. They did sound pretty similar in truth, and one or two could have been left out, but if you were there in the 60s, you can relive your youth in the songs for which you will remember all the words.
And they left the best till last. By the time the whole cast sang “Lola”, everyone in the audience was on their feet bopping and clapping; totally swept up in the ‘feel good’ sentiment.
Love The Kinks? Love the 60s? Love musicals? Go see the show!
http://www.atgtickets.com/shows/sunny-afternoon/
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