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BrumHour saw Play On! at the invite of Birmingham Hippodrome.
For Brum Radio’s Interval Theatre, Tsemaye Bob-Egbe, Earl Gregory and Koko Alexandra talked about their roles in Talawa’s touring production of Play On! Listen below:
By Dave Massey x.com/BrumHour
Experience review: Play On! (Songs from Play On!) at Birmingham Hippodrome
Yesterday, due to cast sickness, the main stage at Birmingham Hippodrome hosted Songs from Play On! which was a concert experience instead of a full performance. The Talawa production is touring across the UK until February 2025.
The cast appeared on stage and performed a broad selection of tracks from the 1990s Broadway musical which in itself is based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, the music is mainly that of the iconic Duke Ellington. This concert version was hosted by Play On!’s UK director Michael Buffong.
I was lucky enough to have seen a matinee performance of this production in Coventry last month and was thrilled to see this vibrant and fun production in its full staging.
In the production I saw over in Coventry, Viola (Tsemaye Bob-Egbe) poses as a man to enter the music industry and in doing so grabs the attention and affections of Lady Liv (Koko Alexandra) but Rev (Cameron Bernard Jones) the club investor has eyes for Lady Liv himself and is willing to change his image to woo her.
The stage has an open front with a bar to the left and a dressing room to the right, the rear is composed of a single huge stage set with housing the talented band, whilst the rest of the stage is dark but fully exposed to the audience including the rafters. This adds to the feeling of performance and music leading this production.
Both at the concert version and the regular performance Koko Alexandra commands the stage with ease and Cameron Bernard Jones shows humour and confidence as Rev. A total scene stealer flexing from timid man to man about town.
Play On! thoughtful stylish production that makes Duke Ellington and Shakespeare blend together to form something totally new.
If you get chance to see it in Birmingham try and do so. It is well worth it. Play On! is at Birmingham Hippodrome until 9th November 2024. Book tickets here: birminghamhippodrome.com/calendar/play-on
