Review:The Commitments (Touring)

Monday, 19th June 2023 at Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Featuring one of the best selections of hits going in a musical right now, Roddy Doyle’s The Commitments (based on the novel of the same name) offers plenty of toe-tapping entertainment.

Set in Dublin, where a bunch of youngsters seek to bring soul music to the masses… or at least the locals, the show follows the highs and lows of an amateur band trying to get their act together – in more ways than one. Our lead is Jimmy, played by James Killeen; a manager-type rather than a band member, Jimmy’s an engaging, ballsy character full of big ideas, but somehow he can’t quite manage to bring people together to fit his vision.

The band he manages to get together are a motley bunch who all have talent somewhere along the scale, and show willing enough to learn from the masters via records before sharing the music with paying audiences via the local bingo hall. Andrew Linnie directs, giving plenty of ground to the tensions within the band as well as the great music they create. And costume designs from Alice Lessing smoothly take us back in time to the 80’s, while Tim Blazdell’s set designs make canny use of space, conjuring grubby rooms and bars from unseen spaces and giving the rehearsal space a fitting sense of make-shift close quarters.

Celebrating greats like Aretha Franklin, James Brown and Stevie Wonder and featuring instant hits like “Chain of Fools”, “Think”, “Try a Little Tenderness” and “Mustang Sally”, there’s a lot to enjoy here when it comes to the music (Musical Supervisor and Arranger: Alan Williams). There are big belting performances and beautiful harmonies from Clara Mackey, Eve Kitchingman and Sarah Gardiner as Imelda, Natalie and Bernie (who also give plenty of girl group energy thanks to movement director Jenny Sawyer).

And centre stage as star vocalist is Ben Morris as Deco: a guy with great vocal skills even if his social skills are lacking. Morris manages to capture Deco’s comic disinterest and bad habits while also showcasing an impressive sense of unrelenting energy, really giving his all when we reach the generous finale mix – made all the more fun by Jason Taylor’s concert lighting.

Aside from the music, the comic highlight of this show lies securely with Ronnie Yorke, whose hyper charged skinhead-type Mickah finds silent intensity in every moment and spends his entire life bracing for chaos. It’s not often a performance in the margins can vie for the spotlight as well as Yorke’s ragey two stepping to Morris’ energetic performances.

For all the musical strengths and the classic building-a-band premise though, there is a sense of too much padding here and I found myself willing the tale forward or to get back to the music, particularly as there isn’t much development of individual characters to engage with. There’s talent in abundance in the cast but it isn’t always given the platform it deserves as the story foregrounds less engaging elements (the insufferable Joey for instance…) at the expense of really letting rip with the potential we see.

The Commitments offers up an engaging tale of scrappy youngsters embracing titans of soul and taking us along for the ride. The story has some lulls, but it’s a fun one, and the finale/ encore alone are worth the trip for fans of really great music!

The Commitments is at Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House until 24th June 2023 – more information and tickets here.

Full band cast: Ben Morris (Deco), Michael Mahony Outspan), Guy Freeman (Derek), Ryan Kelly (Billy), Conor Litten (Dean), Stephen O’Riain (James), Stuart Reid (Joey), Clara Mackey (Imelda), Eve Kitchingham (Natalie) and Sarah Gardiner (Bernie).