The Commitments Rock The Regent
The Commitments Musical – Ipswich Regent
‘The Commitments’ and I have history. I was born and bred in Dublin. In the 1980s, where this story is set, my wife and I had started a family. It wasn’t until the late 90s that, flicking through TV channels late one evening, I came across a brilliant ‘filim’ with knock out music and Dublin accents. I had no idea what it was called, I missed the start. This wonderful work of fiction about the birth of a soul band in Dublin must have been based on the real Dublin soul revival which obviously I missed out on because of our parenting duties.
It was much later that I discovered Roddy Doyle’s book ‘The Commitments’ on which that film was based and could relax in the knowledge that parenting hadn’t, after all, robbed me of one of Dublin’s most significant musical periods. The Dublin soul revival was all pure fiction – but it made a grand story.
So it is that I find myself sitting in a seat at Ipswich Regent waiting for the curtain to go up on the stage production of The Commitments. The show’s advertising material refers to it as a ‘musical’. It is not. Forgive me being pedantic, but this is a play with music at its core. There is a story to be told, characters to paint and, most importantly a band to be developed. If you expect toe tapping, well-rehearsed, carefully crafted rockin’ soul numbers from the start youis will just have to feckin’ wait.
This is a smoldering, slow burner of a show that slowly builds in quality and tempo right up to the band’s first gig and the show’s first ‘proper’ number. Whereupon the curtain drops and the house lights come on leaving many in the audience looking about quizzically. “Was that it?”
But I’m getting ahead of myself. We meet the main characters celebrating Christmas together in the factory where they work, in front of the constant backdrop of the north Dublin flats they so desperately want to break free from. Clever set design morphed this backdrop into pubs and stages – particularly of note was the drum kit coming out of the garage.
I was impressed with the accents and the swearing. No re-writing to “cater for the sensitivities of modern audiences.” But then this stage show is now ten years old. That it is still touring stands as a testament to the appeal of its story, and indeed of classic soul music.
As Jimmy (James Killeen) puts his band together we are gradually introduced to Deco (Ian McIntosh) and the rest of the boys, and of course the girls. What happens is very subtle. The characters change slightly each time they come on stage, Natalie (Eve Kitchingham) for example, gradually loses her glasses, her scraggy ponytail, her denim jacket and ends up – as all the girls do, beautifully coiffed and made up in their little black dresses.
Far less subtle in terms of transformation is Deco’s striptease while singing ‘I heard it through the grapevine’ – that song may be scarred forever for me now!
Developing too are the voices, the musical craft, the songs, the timing. If you thought to begin with that there was little ‘umphf’ in the opening numbers its because the band was learning its craft – there was a little thing called acting going on here, good acting.
Act 2 and the band are going places and playing bigger venues. Growing too is Deco’s ego as he fronts ‘his’ band. The musical numbers are coming hot and fast now, ‘Satifaction’, ‘Signed, sealed, delivered I’m Yours,’ ‘Papa was a rolling stone’. The theatre is pumping, toes tapping, hands clapping.
On stage there is incredible choreography to be had as scenes meld into one another. Thank heavens for wireless kit, as much of the moving around would have been impossible with 80s cabled mics and instruments.
Then, far too soon, the story ends. On the cusp of a record deal, the band disintegrates and the hopes and dreams of the characters fade into the ether and the curtain comes down.
But the music lives on, returning to the stage, empresario Jimmy introduces us to the hardest working band in the world, the curtains open, and we have our Commitments gig. A belting medley of classic soul and rock. The play was over, the music had begun. The audience were on their feet. It was time to clap, sing and enjoy this most cleverly conceived story of unfulfilled dreams set to music. To be sure, it was grand.
The Commitments – Your guide to Dublin English
Me Mot – My Girlfriend
The Jacks – The Toilet
Press – Cupboard (You’re from Hot Press? Well, I’m from The Kitchen Press)
Hot Press – an Irish music magazine, but also means ‘airing cupboard’
Banjaxed – Broken
Ger-up owra dat – You are joking.
Ya bleedin spanner – You idiot.
It was rapid – A good time was had.
A bowsie – A ne’er-do-well.
I’m deelyra for you – I am happy for you.
Ossified – Drunk.
Filim – Film.
Grand – A multifunctional word, can be noun, adjective, verb, or pronoun but always used as an understatement. As in “What did ya tink of The Commitments at Ipswich Regent last night?” “Ah sure it was grand.” Meaning: “an incredibly good show, well worth going to see.”
