BWW Reviews:THE BLUES BROTHERS, New Wimbledon Theatre, February 22 2011

Billed as The All New Original Tribute to The Blues Brothers, I wondered where I had heard something like that before. Then I recalled that Nigel Tufnell and David St Hubbins had been members of The New Originals before they launched Spinal Tap on an unsuspecting world. No doubt Michael McKean and Christopher Guest had been influenced by how Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi had conceived the Blues Brothers a decade or so earlier as an affectionate spoof that grew into a much-loved cult act, before the Taps did for Heavy Metal what The Blues Brothers did for Soul and Blues. Like Spinal Tap, Ackroyd and Belushi's creations are as popular today as ever, not least because there is real respect for the music underlying the comic cuts.

On tour around the UK in 2011, the latest edition of the men in the sharp black suits and porkpie hats sees Brad Henshaw and Daniel Fletcher belt out classic after classic with all the favourites in the mix - Can't turn you loose; Shake a tail feather; Flip, Flop and Fly etc etc etc. There's a bit of patter and bantering with the audience, but the music is the heart of the show. Along with the silly dance moves. Henshaw and Fletcher essay Ackroyd's Canadian drawl and Belushi's Armenian out of Chicago squawk when speaking, but both revert to their own voices once the band strikes up. Neither of the actors have a singing voice of the quality of Otis Redding or James Brown (and there's no shame in that), but they are backed by a fine set of seven musicians and three Bluettes who singing backing vocals beautifully (particularly on an acapella, plaintive, Under the Boardwalk) The Bluettes dance rather more competently than the Blues too.

It's not an authentic reworking of great songs, nor even an authentic reworking of a double act, but the show captures the spirit of The Blues Brothers and, to its credit, doesn't shy away from addressing something of the melancholy of John Belushi's descent into drugs, drink and death, before turning it up to 11 again for a singalong, dancealong finale. If it's two hours of great music belted out with energy and plenty of respect you want, then you'll see every penny's worth of your ticket up on the stage in a show that would cost two or three times the price in Vegas.

 

The Blues Brothers plays at The New Wimbledon Theatre until Saturday 26 February 

 

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