The Beautiful Game

Synopsis

BELFAST, 1969. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton's new musical is the story of ordinary people in an extraordinary situation. As the sixties draw to a close, life is just beginning for a group of teenagers. Amongst them are Father O'Donnel's football team including Del and John who both have enough talent to make it big. Their girlfriends, Mary and Christine are dreaming about what to do with their lives and worrying about the way their world is changing. Yearning for a time when they can live and love in peace, they all learn that to escape from bigotry and intolerance will take all the courage they can muster. Winner of Critics' Circle Award 2000 for Best Musical.

Our Review:

29 September 2000

"The Beautiful Game is for sure light years away from Starlight Express", Andrew Lloyd Webber writes in the programme notes for his new musical. Making, perhaps, one of the understatements of the year.

The changes are obvious from the moment you enter the auditorium. Where's the racetrack or piles of rubbish or opera house motif? There's nothing the least bit elaborate about Michael Levine's blackened shell of a set with rubbled proscenium arch. Not very Webber-esque at all.

No, Britain's most successful composer isn't sticking to characteristic formulae here, nor is he resting on his laurels. He's taking risks and, like him or loathe him, you've got to admire that. Risk number one. A creative team who, bar himself, have never worked on a musical. Director Robert Carsen's background is mainly in opera while choreographer Meryl Tankard hails from a dance company. And then there's the most unlikely partner of...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com - 30 August 2001:

I have just got back from The Beautiful Game and I have to say that I was extremely impressed.. It had characters that I believed in and cared about (how often does that happen in new Musicals these days)... It has a wonderfully funny and sad book that really makes you think... I thought the simple staging and especially the lighting were very well done. I loved so many of the songs but I can see that some of them would work much better live than on CD where the context may be lost.. (especially the continued use of some of the simpler lyrics.. or the songs like "The First Time" which may sound grating on CD but work wonderfully live ).. The whole show had an amazing ability to move you and then seconds later make you laugh out loud at the genuinely witty dialogue... Josie Walker was stunning... I have seen her in Phantom as Christine and in CATS before and she has always been an outstanding performer... I am only sorry that I did not see the show earlier because I would love the opportunity to see it again.. Sadly when it closes on Saturday it will be even more of a tragedy because of some of the awful shows that it leaves behind playing in the West End (For example everyone involved creatively with Peggy Sue should be forced to watch the few remaining performances of The Beautiful Game to be taught how to write and produce a musical !!!)...

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