Part jukebox musical, part tribute act, part biopic, part nostalgic celebration, All or Nothing, more than any musical theatre I have experienced recently, really is all things to all people. It is loud, bold, sassy, cheekily crass when required to be and above all, a hell of a lot of fun. It follows the story of The Small Faces, a band who made a name for themself in a time when the music industry was a double-edged sword of wide-eyed innocence and shark infested business waters. In a way it is also a universal cautionary tale about the industry, exploitation and of how bands form for all the right reasons and fall apart for all the wrong ones.
The show is narrated by the ghost of Small Faces front man Steve Marriott, who wanders the stage unseen by the cast offering the audience personal insight and amusing asides and Chris Simmons brings just the right blend of raw East End rough and tumble delivery, passion, humour and tear stained reflection. Samuel Pope as the young firebrand Marriot, Stanton Wright as his grounding force Ronnie Lane, Alexander Gold as Ian McLagan and Stefan Edwards as Kenney Jones are all on point telling the story of the bands rise and fall but it is when they come together for the live performances that the shows real central character emerges. Ladies and Gentlemen…The Small Faces!
And as we watch their struggle to be taken seriously, their breakthrough, shake off their Mod roots in the face of The Summer of Love’s drug culture and eventually create that classic album which ultimately shatters the heart of the band, we are treated to a brilliant tribute to not only band’s music but to The Small Faces as a live act.
Along the way we meet the oddball Sonny and Cher, the ethereal Dusty Springfield and the sassy P.P. Arnold. Special mention has to go to Daniel Beales who not only captures the caricature delivery of Tony Blackburn to a tee but also does a fantastic rendition of the word-mangling Staley Unwin.
Through out the trials and tribulations, successes and set backs, highs and ultimately lows, the show reflects not only the new world rock and roll created but the old world that the band grew up in. The world of “bombsites with no bathrooms” and the straight talking, street-smart kids that they were. It is this rough charm, this coarse reality, this cheek and profanity which takes the show from the realms of being just another musical production and through its air of authenticity, transports you onto the side lines of their story to as a gig goer, a hanger-on, a roadie, a passer by or fan. The final sing-along’s ability to raise the audience to their feet being testament to it feeling more like the end of a gig than the last act of a theatre production.
They say that there are no second acts in life, but as the band, after Marriot’s departure, would eventually hook up with Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart to become The Faces, I can’t be the only one who thinks that “Oh La La” should be next on writer and director Carol Harrison’s “to do” list. I’ll see you down the front for that one.
All or Nothing: The Mod Musical is playing the Wyvern Theatre until Wednesday 20th September. Get your tickets here.
