Jeff Wayne's Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds - MEN Arena - 09/12/07 by
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There's quite literally no other album in the world like Jeff Wayne's Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds, and its success over the years is quite incredible, highlighted by the fact that its live tour has virtually sold out the massive MEN Arena for the second time in two years. Last time it was a really good show, with local boy Russell Watson making an appearance, but there were still a few little glitches to work out of the system, to fine-tune what was already a very fine show.
And they've certainly done that this time around. The most notable difference comes with narrator Richard Burton's disembodied head. Of course it was essential to incorporate him into the show as his classy narration brings a lot of gravitas to proceedings and it's nice to be able to see who is talking, even if they aren't really there because they're long dead. Using a mixture of photographs of Burton and a lookalike actor, the producers managed to come up with a talking Richard Burton face, which was screened onto a giant fake head suspended over the stage.
It was a clever idea, but didn't quite work and ended up looking slightly unholy, so it's a relief that they have removed the big head and instead show Burton's face as a hologram projected into a thin transparent screen. As well as looking a lot less strange, this also allows his head to move around more naturally and actually 'act', particularly when it comes to interacting with the people on stage. It may not really be Richard Burton, but the performance is still excellent and brings a lot to the show.
The other main change from last time comes with the 'cast', with Justin Hayward, Alexis James and Chris Thompson (who seems to have a sore throat as his performance is a little weak on the night) returning but the roles of Parson Nathaniel and his wife Beth taken up this time by former Asia singer John Payne and former Fame Academy starlet Sinead Quinn. Payne does a much better job of it than Watson's more classically-inclined version last year, and he comes a lot closer to matching Phil Lynott's awesome performance on the album, even if his 'acting' occasionally leaves a little to be desired.
The rest of the show is stunningly good, with the Black Smoke Band and ULLAdubULLA Strings all sounding amazing in replicating the classic tunes from the album, and Wayne soaking up the applause (and almost falling over at one stage). The effects work well, like the Martian tripod over the stage and the filmed sections that bring the story to life, so it's great to see that the areas that could have been improved last time certainly have been, helping bring the classic album to the stage in a way that really couldn't be bettered this time.
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