Rock ‘n’ Roll Heaven (Tour – Sunderland)

The juke box musical Rock ’n’ Roll Heaven headlines Eddie Cochran, Roy Orbison, Del Shannon, Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson and Buddy Holly, during a two and a half hour trip down memory lane. It has to be said this musical works where many others have failed because of the talented cast and it past one large test, by entertaining my ten year old daughter throughout, even though she was unfamiliar with most of the singers and songs. But, it did make me question how many of today’s well known singers would be remembered in fifty years time.

The show works because the performers are excellent and each only sings three or four songs before another “legend” takes over. This allows for the style of music to keep changing and, of course, the hits thereby keep coming.

The simple set is brilliantly lit by Nick Richings, and while the on stage band were very good, all credit has to go to performers, Damien Edwards, A J Dean, Reuven Gershhon and Liam Doyle, who bring the legendary singers back to life.

Rock ’n’ Roll Heaven avoids the “Stars in your Eyes” type performance and from becoming like a karaoke, due to the talented cast, who interact with each other and the audience very well. While the hits of the original artistes rolled out one after another, the audience were ready to clap along from the start and most were out of their seats dancing at the finale. You could ask no more from this type of show.