Synopsis A showbiz send-up like no other, this hilarious, high energy pop extravaganza takes its audience on the most exuberant and animated theatrical ride imaginable. Join the cheering, flag-waving, clapper-clacking crowds as ten countries compete for the golden trophy in a glittering glamour-fest of sequins, satin and shiny white teeth. Text in your vote on your mobile phone - the audience will decide the winner every night.
Eurobeat - the Eurovision parody heralded as the “world’s first interactive musical”, opened on Tuesday at the Novello theatre (9 September 2008, previews from 4 September), cheered on by an audience including former Eurovision contestants Cheryl Baker and Frances Ruffelle (See 1st Night Photos, 9 Sep 2008).
Eurobeat - Winning Is Everything assigns audience members to one of ten competing countries and, as with the real Eurovision, invites them to vote for their favourite contestants via text message, with a nightly winner announced at the end of the performance. There’s also a video introduction by Terry Wogan, and plenty of flag-waving, horn-blowing, clacker-slapping and cheering.
The show proved a popular hit at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe, before embarking on a national tour. Set in Sarajevo, Eurobeat is hosted by the eccentric duo of children’s TV presenter Sergei (played by Les Dennis) and Boyka (Mel Giedroyc, of Mel & Sue), a former Olympic pole-vaulting champion, lifestyle programme hostess and cabaret performer.
It is written by Aussies Andrew Patterson and Craig Christie, produced and directed by Glynn Nicholas, designed by Richard Jeziorny and choreographed by Natalie K Marsland and Andrew Hallsworth. In addition to Dennis and Giedroyc, the company includes Sarah Boulton, Emma Brooke, Sarah Cahalarn, Emma Cannon, Adam Charles-Hills, Mairi Cowieson, Scott Garnham, Lewis Griffiths, Natasha Jayetileke, Arvid Larsen, Kay Murphy, Craig Perry, Sergio Priftis and Carl Stallwood.
“Funnier than the real thing” was the consensus of most overnight critics, who left any traces of cultural snobbery at the door to embrace the “hilariously camp” and “exuberantly enjoyable” show. There was the odd dissenter, with Nicholas de Jongh of the Evening Standard labelling the experience “torture” and comparing it to the Nazi rallies at Nuremberg. However, these minor criticisms aside, there was lavish praise for the performances of “alarmingly bewigged” Les Dennis and the “compellingly bizarre” Mel Giedroyc. And despite recognising the evening to be as “culturally significant as Dustin the Turkey”, Eurobeat’s “unpretentious” sense of fun led to more critical thumbs-up than ‘nul points’.
Michael Coveney on Whatsonstage.com (four stars) – “Eurobeat, billed as possibly the West End’s first interactive trash hit … manages to combine cheap laughs and cheap music in a joyous theatrical combustion … Iceland’s entry was a terrifying Bjork-style love ballad performed by a former exotic dancer in a barrel-shaped tunic of dyed chicken feathers, while Ronan Corr for Ireland – apparently detached from the rest of his family songbirds – cut loose in a squelchy, melodic chorus of ‘La La La’ which deservedly won the contest on the night for its total lack of originality … Glynn Nicholas’s production, gloriously glib and tastelessly choreographed (that’s a compliment) by Natalie K Marsland and Andrew Hallsworth, is expertly compered by the inspirationally cast duo of Les Dennis … and Mel Giedroyc … who has thoughtfully incorporated facets of Bet Lynch and Nancy Dell’Olio into her turn of fake Eastern European promise. The whole show’s better, tackier and funnier than the real thing ... who’d have thought it possible?”
Charles Spencer in the Telegraph – “You might plausibly argue that to parody the Eurovision Song Contest is pointless, since the real thing does the job so well itself, but somehow Eurobeat works. The needling relationship between the two presenters, the brilliantly accurate pastiche of various naff pop idioms, and the audience participation, in which you vote for your favourite song via text message, prove an almost continuous pleasure … the choreography by Natalie K Marsland and Andrew Hallsworth combines the naff and the filthily suggestive to hilariously camp effect. It doesn't all work. The British entry is dismayingly anodyne (but then so has the real thing been for years too numerous to recall). The send-up of Abba proves a damp squib, and there is nothing here quite as bizarre as those recent real-life winners Lordi, the monster-masked heavy metallers from Finland. But for most of its length, Eurobeat hits its target bang on, and Glynn Nicholas's production proves the most exuberantly enjoyable musical to have opened in the West End since Hairspray.”
Simon Edge in the Daily Express (four stars) – “The Eurovision Song Contest has not been the same since the admission of previously unheard of countries with more goats than people, bent on giving nul points to the nogoodnik Western nations that devised the competition in the first place. Fortunately salvation is at hand with a stage show that manages to unite smartness and wit with the cheesy self-parody of Eurovision, proving you can be inventive and crowd-pleasing in one spangled leg-kick … It could be a disaster-in-Spandex, but Christie's knowing script and Glynn Nicholas’s exuberant direction send up and embrace the real event in equal measure … Mel Giedroyc and Les Dennis are perfectly pitched as the Bosnian presenting duo … But the meat of the show is the songs themselves … With a hugely energetic company throwing themselves into numbers that - however ridiculous - are often better than the genuine efforts they are satirising, it’s a joyous festival of innuendo, sight gags and musical mickey-taking.”
Nicholas de Jongh in the Evening Standard (one star) – “The scenes at Eurobeat’s premiere would hardly have been out of place at Hitler’s Youth Rally at Nuremberg in 1936: Last night’s clap-along audience kept succumbing to flag-waving ecstasy, revelled in light shows and remained stuck on a jubilant high … Andrew Patterson and Craig Christie, who wrote the book, the awesomely dreadful music and lyrics, attempt to make a Europhobic mockery of foreign stereotypes and several famous singers. They create a wit and humour-free area with lyrics and music that puts the tosh into pastiche … Some singing chaps strip down to spandex or even the odd six-pack and swollen biceps for Eurovision’s gay aficionados … What a hackneyed notion it is that foreign singers are funny because they cannot speak proper English and that Eurovision songs invariably sink to the lower depths of stupidity. People who adore Eurovision may well be pleasured and were at the first night. For the rest of us the sight and sound of Eurobeat is cruel and unusual treatment, in other words torture.”
Alice Jones in the Independent (four stars) – “There are not many – any? – West End shows where you are greeted at the door by ushers in glittery cowboy hats who press badges and flags into your hands … But then Eurobeat isn't strictly a show – it's a competition. … The whole shebang is hosted by competitive limelight-seekers Sergei (Les Dennis) and Boyka (Mel Giedroyc). Dennis, in a Wogan-esque toupee and shiny suit, delivers the bizarre country fact-files in a convincingly nonplussed manner, giving proceedings just the right amount of seediness and innuendo. But it is Giedroyc as Boyka, the former Olympic pole-vaulting champion, who steals the show with a procession of hideous frocks … Craig Christie's and Andrew Patterson's songs are pitch-perfect in their ear-splitting Eurovision penchant for mixing unlikely musical styles … Some of the routines are too silly and a good few of the jokes fall flat. And, just like the real thing, the voting goes on a bit too long (unlike the real thing, though, it's entirely unpredictable). But the energy levels rarely dip and I can't remember laughing this much (or ever making quite so much noise) in a theatre.”
Sam Marlowe in The Times (three stars) – “Described by Terry Wogan, who makes a guest appearance on video, as a 'glorious homage' to the real song contest, Eurobeat is both a kitsch and canny send-up and a tack-encrusted love letter to the varied and sometimes sick-making musical smorgasbord … The current West End version is overamplified and about as culturally significant as Dustin the Turkey, but it’s also well-honed, sharp-eyed and slickly performed … The location is Sarajevo and our perma-grinning, glittery and alarmingly bewigged hosts are Boyka (Mel Giedroyc) and Sergei (Les Dennis). The multilingual Boyka has an unnerving habit of bursting into shrill laughter and flapping her jaw like a ventriloquist’s dummy. As Sergei, Dennis has peculiarly dead eyes, which may or may not be part of his shtick. Anyway, they make a compellingly bizarre pair, genially supplying interact links scattered with malapropisms and innuendo. The contestants themselves, though, are the real treat … This show is entirely pointless, but its OTT energy and shameless silliness are oddly seductive. Forget high culture; this is high camp, and in its own unpretentious way it’s a winner.”
Eurobeat, billed as possibly the West End’s first interactive trash hit, is a send up of a cultural phenomenon, the Eurovision Song Contest, which is already out of sight in terms of self-parody. We’ve been through the irony tunnel and back several times on this score.
Yet this spectacularly silly and enjoyable musical by Eurofan Aussies Craig Christie and Andrew Patterson – first seen on the Edinburgh Festival fringe last year - manages to combine cheap laughs and cheap music in a joyous theatrical combustion. And because the audience votes for the winner on mobile telephones, we don’t even have the pleasure of hearing deathless phrases like “Good evening, Lichtenstein, can we have your votes please?” or “Here are the votes of the Paris jury: Norveige, nul points.”
We do have a brief appearance from Terry Wogan, though, who pops up on a giant screen to promise us a good evening: “I can say that because I’m not there.” By then we have been welcomed big time to Sarajevo and brought to our feet in a Mexican wave. Next, we practise waving our mini national flags that we have selected from the smiling ushers on our way in: my companion was for Iceland, I was cheering for Ireland.
Iceland’s entry was a terrifying Bjork-style love ballad performed by a former exotic dancer in a barrel-shaped tunic of dyed chicken feathers, while Ronan Corr for Ireland – apparently detached from the rest of his family songbirds – cut loose in a squelchy, melodic chorus of “La La La” which deservedly won the contest on the night for its total lack of originality.
There was stiff competition, mind you, from a hilarious robotic German entry in the Kraftwerk style, a Greek homage to Nana Mouskouri with the skimpily clad goddess Aphrodite consumed in flames (the least she deserved), and the KGBoyz from Russia – “new kids on the Eastern bloc” – glistening in their white latex gym suits as they performed, nay embodied, their “Ice Queen” counter-revolutionary composition.
Glynn Nicholas’s production, gloriously glib and tastelessly choreographed (that’s a compliment) by Natalie K Marsland and Andrew Hallsworth, is expertly compered by the inspirationally cast duo of Les Dennis as a grinning idiot Sergei in a shiny gold suit and a hairpiece crouching on top like a bedraggled stoat, and Mel Giedroyc – of television double act Mel and Sue – as gushing Boyka, who has thoughtfully incorporated facets of Bet Lynch and Nancy Dell’Olio into her turn of fake Eastern European promise. The whole show’s better, tackier and funnier than the real thing...who’d have thought it possible?
We had a great time! Helped by a liberal lunch and a fine wine, we took in a 5pm Saturday show and enjoyed ourselves hugely. If you party on Eurovision night each Spring, this show will certainly entertain you. - David Gray
20 Sep 08
At least I made your rating go up a star, Mike! lol! - Norman
18 Sep 08
IT'S BANG ON !! obviously norman your us unwitty as your name - Mike
16 Sep 08
Fabulous Fabulous Fabulous with capital F's !!! If you don't enjoy this then you won't ever enjoy anything, it is simply fantastic, and ignore anyone who says you have to 'get' Eurovision to like it, you don't, just go along determind to enjoy yourself rather than to 'analyse' and you'll have a hoot. HIGHLY recommended. - TomofLondon
14 Sep 08
I'm amazed how the comments below just didn't get the whole point of the show!! Les Dennis as Sergei is meant to look like he's trying to hard and is desperate and the songs are really intelligent not just unwitty 'abba-asbo' comments. Watch eurovision and then watch this show... IT'S BANG ON!! Great Night!! - Norman
12 Sep 08
i agree with below, my friends all enjoyed it though, but for me it was a caberet night, not a west end theatre night. Alright I wish i had thought of it, it could have been written in a day. Perhaps if they impersonated past winners and made a pastiche of that it would have been funnier. You could have had Abba-asbo and PortaLoo, Brother Hoodey of man, 'save all your dissin for me' Olivia Neutron 'boom Bong a bomb' Cliff 'hanger' Richards 'Comisserations' Katrina and the teetotals 'Mines a spright' anyway good on them for getting it in the west end, thats a feat in itself. - Mike
11 Sep 08
Now I like a joke - and love Eurovision - but please there is no excuse to accept half thought out ideas, a performance so bad it aches (Les Dennis - the rest of the cast throw everything they've got at this - but Des is trying WAY to hard - just comes across as desperate!) and pastiche songs that are a joke for the first 10 seconds (Bjork/Germany) but you then start wondering when it will end. A Nana Miscouri take off ?- you have nothing more relevant to poke fun at? Yes there were some great fun bits - not being able to vote because there was no mobile signal is a serious flaw - but I couldn't wait for it all to end. Like the real EuroVision aren't we all a bit over this? AND you expect people to PAY for this? At least Eurovision was free - and much more fun that this 5 minute comedy rant. AVOID!
- Cliff G
11 Sep 08
the best fun ever i shall go back and back - john
11 Sep 08
Affectionate mickey-take of the Eurovision with hilarious songs and dance routines and audience interaction the like of which you've never seen. Great for a party night out. Seen it twice (Milton Keynes and London 1st night) and am going a third time! The whole cast are superb. - Chris
11 Sep 08
I saw this when it started its tour in Wimbledon. A complete Eurovision experience set in Sarajevo with two caricatured hosts, 10 archetypal entries, interval ‘entertainment’ and a voting session with video links to 10 countries and snatches of green room excitement! As Terry Wogan’s video introduction puts it, this is a homage. They capture it all perfectly and even I embarrassed myself with excessive arm waving, whooping and cheering! I think the choreography is the real star; I delighted in every stereotypical movement and gesture. The audience are encouraged to be partisan by wearing badges and waving flags and get to vote by text from their seats. Take your chums, have a few drinks to banish inhibitions, and laugh with (not at) what has become an extraordinary institution – and it took an Australian production team to bring us the live experience! - Gareth James
Opened 22 May 1905, originally the Waldorf, became the Strand in 1909 and the Whitney in 1911, back to the Strand in 1915. On 8 Oct 1940 the theatre was hit during a bombing raid - the show went on! There had been an earlier Strand Theatre where the Aldwych tube station now is that opened in 1832. 1061 seats. Member of the Society of London Theatre. On 25 March 2003 Delfont Mackintosh Theatres Limited, which had owned the freehold of the theatre since 1991, took over the management of the Strand from the Louis I Michaels Ltd Group of Companies when their lease expired. Delfont Mackintosh is now planning a 1.5 million refurbishment programme to restore the theatre to its former glory. May 2005 opened as Novello Theatre.
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