Shake It Up Baby! at Epstein Theatre, Liverpool Review
Written by Roby for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
‘Shake It Up Baby!’ is currently making its world premiere at the Epstein Theatre in Liverpool and tells the story of “the years that made The Beatles”. It’s great to see this venue not just open again but packed with a responsive audience who clearly enjoyed an evening of rock’n’roll.
The show, which is narrated and led by Allan Williams (played by Andrew Schofield – the backbone of the piece), starts immediately by breaking the fourth wall and having Schofield talk to the audience. His naturalistic acting makes this feel like a genuine conversation and works very well (a great choice by director Stephen Fletcher). The minimalistic set (Alfie Heywood and Christopher McCourt) looks great and is utilised effectively, stopping the usual faff of set changes and transitions. As a result, the show is very well-paced and rarely drags. However, at times, some of the more important plot points of the show are then brushed over too quickly. Ciarán Cunningham’s lighting design looks great and Kate Harvey’s sound design makes sure that we can still hear every lyric over the band’s accompaniment. These two technical aspects, along with the set design, work really well on stage.
The choreography throughout this show by WOW Liverpool is sharp and well-executed. However, due to the nature of the music, the choreography often looks very repetitive – not just because it keeps within the style, but because it keeps within the same eight or nine moves. The slightly slower, more jazzy or fosse-inspired numbers are very nice though and provide a good contrast, just not often enough. Hats off to the talented ensemble of dancers though, who perform all the routines with ease and great performance.
As well as the ensemble, the rest of the cast are extremely talented – there is not a single weak link, with many of the cast also being actor-musos and tackling many instruments, which are played brilliantly. Grace Galloway and Andro Cowperthwaite deliver the best vocal performances of the night, with their solo moments in Act 1 really standing out to me. And of course, the Beatles themselves are brilliant – they are truly in their element during the finale medley and command the stage beautifully. Unlike most big finale medleys in jukebox shows, this one chooses to purely show off the vocal and instrumental talents of the cast, which is great, but as a result, the non-Beatle cast members end up squished in the corners of the stage, awkwardly clapping along for four minutes. They looked like they were all having a good time, and so did the audience, but it would have been nice to see a bit more during the finale or at least utilise the space better.
Overall, the show is great, especially for fans of The Beatles. I love that writer Ian Salmon decided to take a non-traditional approach when making his plot and music choices, focusing on an aspect of Beatles’ history that is more unknown, and a range of different artists’ music, rather than just the Beatles themselves. I learnt something new about my city, and I think a lot of other people did too; Beatles-themed theatrical performances can often feel samey and overdone, yet this one doesn’t.
‘Shake It Up Baby!’ is a funny, home-grown “musical play” that is unapologetically scouse – however, at times it feels more like a concert with narration. It runs at the Epstein Theatre until Sunday 12th October, and is worth a watch if you’re a big Beatles fan.
★★★
