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Ben Elton - The Musical

 
Alan Chorley Review by Alan Chorley 1 Published: 11 Aug 2006 Show Dates: 31 Dec 1969-31 Dec 1969

The show is set entirely to parodies of songs from well-known musicals and classic 80s pop hits. This was not endorsed by and does not feature Ben Elton.

Before the show begins there is an audio introduction by Dan Thomas, during which he says “an hour of this shit to get through”. It’s usually a mistake to try to lower the audience’s expectations but in this case it’s very sensible.

The show is supposedly set in 2015. Labour are still in power and Tony Blair is still Prime Minister; apathy rules; Ben Elton is a rich successful writer of books and plays while Andrew Lloyd Webber hasn’t had a hit musical in over ten years. Lloyd Webber decides that nothing’s been right since Mrs Thatcher left Downing Street so he attempts to combine with her to form some super-being who will make use of Ben Elton to turn people back to the Tories. Ultimately, Elton resists this and writes his own musical, which is intended to encourage people to become politically active again.

The plot is largely irrelevant as it’s mainly an excuse for Dan Thomas to sing, dance and mimic pop stars of the 80s. Mostly he’s extremely unfunny although his Kate Bush, Elton John and Abba impersonations are not bad. He clearly does have talent but he really needs better material than this. Not recommended.

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The Blurb:

One of the greatest comedy writers in living memory. The Man from Auntie who challenged Thatch. Saviour of the ‘Blackadder’ series. A promising life turned horribly wrong.