Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Great singing, dancing . |
| Disadvantages: |
Hammy acting . |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
It’s nearly one year since Jo Lambert and I became Mr and Mrs Critchley and to celebrate – a little early – we decided to have a few days in London. Booked it ages ago so it wasn’t our fault that it turned out to be the hottest ever day in London, until yesterday at least, whilst we were there.
Loads of the theatres in London are listed buildings – therefore little can be done to them – and have no air-conditioning making for sweltering conditions for the audience let alone the actors with all the stage lighting beaming down on them too!
Having seen a number of West End shows, Jo decided that she wanted to see something different and when I saw an offer for Bombay Dreams, I thought this is it! Jo had wanted to see this since it started over a year ago.
Sit back and enjoy the anniversary review of Bombay Dreams at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London’s West End…
***THE THEATRE***
The Apollo Victoria is situated on Wilton Road just opposite London Victoria Station so it is handy to get too by mainline trains running from the South and the Victoria (light blue) Circle (yellow) and District (green) Tube Lines.
The theatre was opened as the New Victoria Cinema in 1930 and brought by Provincial Cinematograph Theatres for £250,000. The design had to incorporate as many seats as possible. Also full stage facilities were required to enable live shows to be presented alongside celluloid films. It became a listed building in 1972 after years of decline in audience and the quality of shows that it offered.
In 1980 Apollo Leisure took over the building re-naming it the Apollo Victoria after completely refurbishing and refitting it. Shirley Bassey headlined the opening week, followed by a three-week stint by Cliff Richard. Revivals of The Sound of Music, Camelot and Fiddler on the Roof began to reignite the theatre as a success.
Then in 1984 a roller-skating extravaganza of a show about stream, electric and diesel trains opened by the name of Starlight Express. Special permission was given to construct a 5 tonne revolving bridge and multilayered tracks around the stalls and circle for the performers to skate around the audience.
Starlight ran for 18 very successful years before hitting the buffers on the 12th January 2002. The Apollo has now been restored to its former glory, changed ownership to ClearChannel Entertainment and is now home to the Bolloywood Musical Extravaganza – Bombay Dreams.
***BOMBAY DREAMS***
-THE STORY-
The story is set in Bombay (Mumbai) a city of massive contrasts from the richest of the rich to the poorest of the slums and this is where the story starts…
Every day the slum dwellers awake to live another day at the bottom of society’s pile. One man named Akaash has a dream to make it big in the realms of the Bollywood Musicals. The other Slum Dwellers encourage him to follow his dreams, encouraged by his friend Sweetie.
Unfortunately for the people in the slum there is a plan to build a new multiplex cinema right on their land and a lawer called Vikram offers his services to help them win their land.
Meanwhile in prison we meet Madan, a washed up Bollywood actor and director, put in prison on various charges and kept in his place by JK of the Mumbai Mafia. When Madan refuses to throw the results of the Miss World Competition he is producing from his prison cell, JK threatens to kill his daughter, Priya who is directing the show. Madan relents and Priya is saved.
The Miss World competition is gate-crashed by a women’s lib movement with Sweetie and Akaash tagging along. In the confusion, Akaash grabs hold of the microphone and performs a song and dance routine that propels him towards Bollywood fame… but will he get the girl he has fallen in love with and will he remember those he left behind in the slum? Or will his new found fame and fortune lead him down a path that he cannot return from?
***THE CHARACTERS***
AKAASH – The dreamer of the slums, wishing for the big time and his big break into Bollywood films. He falls in love with Pryia, but when she refuses his advances starts to flirt with his co-star Rani.
PRIYA – The Daughter of Madan (actor and producer of films) and idealistic visionary of where Bollywood films should be going. Is in love with Akaash, but is engaged to Vikram.
KITTY – Washed up actress kept young by surgery on various parts of her body. Bitter and bitchy to anyone who is more successful than she is.
MADAN – Ex-Bollywood actor, now directs and produces his won features. Discovers Akaash and makes him a star.
SWEETIE – A transsexual eunuch who is in love with Akaash but has to admire him from a distance.
RANI – The prima-donna and biggest star of Bollywood.
VIKRAM – Lawyer engaged to Priya and working for JK. Dastardly double-crosser.
JK – Head of the Mumbai Mafia.
***THE PICK OF THE CAST***
Wayne Perry – AKAASH. Wayne is the alternate Akaash playing only a few performances a week and he was great as the star-struck guttersnipe trying to do his best to make his dreams come true.
Zehra Naqvi – PRIYA. Very pretty and has a great singing voice, she plays the part very well.
Raj Ghatak – SWEETIE. Brilliant in one word. Played the part of Sweetie with such care and sensitivity he made the character the one the audience could sympathize with the most. Excellent.
***THE SONGS***
I loved the fusion of Eastern music with a more Western beat – this is my list of the best songs.
Love’s Never Easy – Sung by Sweetie. Cheesy lyrics, but a wonderful tune. Starts slowly and thoughtfully but builds into a full on Bollywood dance number. “Love’s never easy, take it from a girl who knows…”
Like an Eagle – Sung by Akaash. Fun song showing Akaash’s dreams of being a star.
Shakalaka Baby – Sung by Akaash and Rani. Probably the song that the show is most known by. A great pulsating beat with dancing to match.
Closer Than Ever – Sung by Sweetie, Akaash and Priya. A beautiful trio made poignant by the fact that this is when Sweetie discovers that she in no longer in the running for Akaash’s affections.
***THE SET***
The set is quite stunning. The slum constists of a pipe that snakes it’s way fro the back of the stage to the front and is then taken over by a huge cinema billboard contrasting the rich and poor.
A revolving stairway provides the scene for the Miss World competition and various pieces of scenery fit together to form the outside of a local cinema.
For one scene from a Bollywood film a huge fountain is used as an integral part of the dance number for Shakalaka Baby in which the dancers dance through.
***THE CREATIVE TEAM***
Meera Syal - AUTHOR. Famous for being a part of Goodness Gracious Me! And the naughty granny Ummi in The Kumars at No. 42.
A R Rahman - COMPOSER. Composer of over soundtracks for over 50 Bollywood films he has sold over 100 million soundtrack albums worldwide.
Don Black – LYRICS. Also has Sunset Boulevard, Tell Me on A Sunday and a number of Bond themes to his name.
Steven Pimlott – DIRECTOR. Dr Dolittle and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat also directed by him.
Anthony Van Laast - CHOREOGRAPHER. Mamma Mia!, Jesus Christ Superstar, Whistle Down the Wind and the USA tour of My Fair Lady.
Farah Khan – CHOREOGRAPHER. Award-winning Bollywood choreographer.
Andrew Lloyd Webber – PRODUCER. Composed Joseph, Jesus Christ Superstar, Jeeves, Tell Me on a Sunday, Cats, Starlight Express, The Phantom of the Opera, Aspects of Love, Sunset Boulevard, Whistle Down the Wind and The Beautiful Game. Currently working on a musical based on Wilkie Collins’ novel The Woman in White and a feature film version of Phantom to be director by (oh dear) Joel Schumacher.
***THE CONCLUSION***
I did enjoy this show, but I was very disappointed by it also.
Many of the lyrics of the songs were trite and sickly – thanks to Don Black! A lot of the dialogue was stilted and riled far too heavily on one liners that just didn’t work. Some of the characters were so poorly drawn and performed (JK especially in a villain performace of such hamminess that he’d better not got too near the delicatessens counter at ASDA) that it was, at times, excruciatingly embarrassing. It also feels a little longer than it needed to be.
The biggest criticism I have of this show is that it couldn’t decide what it wanted to be. It couldn’t choose between being an homage to all that is Bollywood or a satire on the themes contained in the usual Bollywood blockbuster. There were times it was a Bollywood joy and other times it was trying to be a serious musical and it couldn’t sustain being two different things.
It didn’t fit easily into the two styles and quite often, jarred between the two. The most noticeable instance of this was at the wedding when a fight descended into pantomime farce with all the added sound effects of punching, swishing swords and twirling chains added. Now I understand that this is a staple moment of Bollywood films, but it was taking place outside of a Bollywood ‘moment’ i.e. they were not making a Bollywood film at that time it was ‘real life’ and still the sound effects were added. It was an awful moment in an otherwise satisfactory evening. The worst character by far was JK – horrifically overacted at every opportunity. Again another example of a Bollywood ‘moment’ happening in the ‘real life’ time.
We nearly left at the interval – the only time I have ever felt like that – as the first half was just a mess. The second half was much better and had drawn me back into the story until that awful wedding fight moment…
An unfair criticism of it is that songs ARE mimed BUT before you go off on one listen to this. The songs that are mimed take place within the Bollywood ‘moment’ i.e. in a film and not ‘real life’. As this is what so obviously happens in Bollywood films and the dance scenes are so active that is fine. The frenetic dancing more than makes up for the miming and is OK as it is within the Bollywood moment.
I must admit though that the tunes from the show are still going round in my head and my feelings have mellowed a lot since I saw it on Wednesday. I probably would go and see it again but only if a friend desperately wanted someone to see it with them and the ticket was free.
But do choose this show if you want a different theatrical night out in London.
The star rating system is difficult on this one! I gave Chitty two stars because it was really awful – lazy and boring.
Bombay Dreams had more life, better chorography and a somewhat better story-line so, even though it really disappointed me I’ve given it three stars.
One for the character Sweetie as any show that does a brave thing like making a transsexual a main character and giving her feelings and a motive is good.
One for the amazing dance routines and some of the songs.
And finally one for that fact that is bringing a whole new clientele of theatre-goers into the West End at a time when it really needs it.
Bombay Dreams was a risky venture to take for Lloyd-Webber, but that risk has paid off.
***THE PRICES***
Tuesday - Saturday evenings at 7.45pm.
Wednesday and Saturday afternoons at 3pm.
Sunday afternoon at 3 pm only.
No Monday performances.
Lasts 2 hours and 30 minutes approximately.
Prices:
All Performances except Friday and Saturday Evenings and Saturday Afternoon.
Stalls.
£42.50
£37.50
£32.00
£27.50
Dress Circle.
£42.50
£37.50
£32.00
£27.50
£22.00
£16.00
£14.00
Friday and Saturday Evenings and Saturday Afternoons.
Stalls.
£45.00
£40.00
£35.00
£30.00
Dress Circle.
£45.00
£40.00
£35.00
£30.00
£25.00
£19.00
£14.00
Standing tickets at all performances: £10.00
By way of note the expensive tickets in the Stalls count from Row A - Row Y. You pay the same price for sitting at the front as you do 24 rows back in the theatre.
Don't forget to add on your booking fee, £2.00 per booking from Ticketmaster. Also on top of this a fraction is added to the ticket price. For example £42.50 and £45.00 tickets have a £2.75 booking fee added on top.
Avoid booking fees by visiting the box office in person. Not useful if you don't live in London.
Wheelchair access is to the Dress Circle – Row A seats 2 & 3 are allocated for this purpose and are priced at £15 each.
Signed and Audio-Described shows are planned, check with box office. There is currently no hearing loop installed.
Hope you’ve found this review helpful and entertaining.
Thanks for reading.
C :o)
