"Sunny Afternoon - The Kinks Musical"

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

Unlike some jukebox musicals, this musical's storyline has a strong story and the songs meander along perfectly throughout the two hours and twenty minutes the cast are on stage. Never setting out to mimic the singers you get to see four actors who just happen to be able to play their instruments brilliantly and have the raw energy to belt out the wonderful back catalogue of one of the best bands ever. They also prove that the Gallaghers from Oasis were not the first brothers to rip chunks out of each other, verbally and physically.

Based on the formation and career of The Kinks, this is their tale of their rise from the dead end streets to rock stardom. It’s set against the background of political and social change of the 1960s and examines the early years of the Muswell Hill based group. After initial failure, the band's lead guitarist Dave Davies experimented and created a distorted power chord sound on the group's third single, "You Really Got Me". The song, written by Dave's older brother Ray, went to No 1 in the charts and preceded a string of hits.

Woven into this 2015 award winning new musical are the themes of the Davies brothers' sibling rivalry, management problems, their sister's untimely death, Ray's doomed marriage and their subsequent banning from the United States following a dispute with the musicians' union.

All the biggest and best hits are here, “You Really Got Me”, “Days”, “Dead End Street”, ”Dedicated Follower Of Fashion”, “Stop Your Sobbing”, “All Day And All Of The Night”, “Tired Of Waiting”, "I Go To Sleep", “Waterloo Sunset”, “Lola”, "Sunny Afternoon" and so many more. It also includes one of my guilty pleasures favourites "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" which was only a "B" side of "Sunny Afternoon".

This show combines the adrenalin rush of being at a live concert with the whole theatricality of a stage show and the whole rebellious spirit of the 1960s. Bringing the primal sound of rock ‘n’ roll to the “lardies” (lah di dah-upper class people) can be an uphill struggle and not without physical oppositions.

It’s always nice to see those on stage actually playing their instruments, bringing an air of realism to the roles of the fine musicians that are the Davies brothers and the band, with only a couple of drafted in musicians to fully flesh out the sound.

The arrangements of Davies' songs when stripped back show what beautiful words and melodies he produced. It also highlighted the excellent voices the actors have.

Danny Horn plays Ray Davies, the more sensible one of the Davies brothers. It shows the initial hunger of the brother which then turns to one of those "be careful what you wish for" moments. He shows the homesick side of Ray, longing for his wife and baby, tired of all the legal Union wrangles in the States, which then turns again when he gets back home, also showing the faith in the people he has around him in the band and management. Danny also shows what a fine rock voice he has in these songs, as well as a very soulful set of vocals in the stripped back versions of some of their songs. there's also a really sensitive side to Ray shown near the end of act two with his brother.

Oliver Hoare is Dave Davies, the clown of the band who liked to dress up in outrageous clothes, an almost child like behaviour who liked to throw the odd tantrum if things didn't go the way that he wanted; all of which manifested in a magnetic character which the groupies clearly found attractive. One of the opening scenes sees the Davies brothers working on chords for a song in their bedroom. They ramp up both amps to eleven and then practically destroy one of the amps to cause a raw distortion. The noise that came from that stage sent vibrations through the seats in the auditorium; I am so pleased that the sound department did not scrimp on the volume, my glasses nearly vibrated all the way down my nose!! The musical also shows the level of inter band altercations with one between Dave and Mick ending in a bloody stage fight. There's a sentimental brotherly love understanding near the end where confessions were made by both brothers.

Harry Curley is their bassist Peter Quaife. I had quite forgotten about Quaife wanting out of the band in 1966 because he didn't think that the rest of the band liked him, even though Quaife and Davies had been the best of friends at school and practically created the school band between them. He also showed the fear of what might happen in the band if he didn't get out. Thankfully Quaife changed his mind and returned with a walking bass line that became the intro of one of their big hits. Even though I have seen this musical before, I had forgotten just what a fragile character Quaife is portrayed to be and Harry brings that fragility to the fore.

Zakarie Stokes is Mick Avory, the Kinks' drummer. What you don't get to appreciate so much with the Kinks' songs was the level of excellence Avory had. In the second act there's a scene with Avory running amok on the drum kit, moving from jazz styles to out and out rock drumming and then to a softer Latin style rhythm. Zakarie Stokes is an incredible drummer and percussionist and lays it out there on stage in one of the best drum solos I have seen performed live in a musical. the driving rhythm section of Curley and Stokes replicate the sound that made the Kinks's rhythm department the powerhouse that they were. And when you throw into that mix the guitars of Ray and Dave, you get that unmistakable rock sound.

Returning from the original Hampstead Theatre and West End companies are Ben Caplan as Eddie Kassner and Tam Williams as Grenville Collins and, from the original UK Tour are Victoria Anderson as Gwen, plus Victoria was Dance Captain, Deryn Edwards as Mrs. Davies, Joseph Richardson as Robert Wace, Lisa Wright as Rasa, Ray's wife, and James Hudson.

The company is completed by Alicia Ally, Morgan Burgess, James Chisholm, Phil Corbitt, Alasdair Craig, Dominic Gee-Burch, Kristian Jacobs, Robin Johnson, Sorrel Jordan, Jada Langley, Timothy Roberts, Georgiana Wainwright-Jones and Emily Whitby-Samways. 

Alex Ward is the additional guitarist.

Brilliant costumes, make up and wigs, especially for Dave Davies, are thanks to Carole Hancock. The costumes bring back memories of watching old editions of "Top Of The Pops", "Beat Club", "Shindig" and other pop music shows from the Sixties on TV, when they used to show them back in the Eighties on Cable TV. And all of those brilliant wigs for both men and women!

An amazing light show and powerful sound really made you feel as if you were at one of their live concerts, creating an all round electric atmosphere. 

Directed by Edward Hall and perfectly paced. All thriller and no filler.

Choreography is by Adam Cooper and we get to see an amazing array of Sixties style dances, and dancers.

Musical Supervisor is Elliott Ware and Musical Director is Michael Cullen. Associate Director is Christopher Chase Carter. They made sure that the Kinks music sounded just as it did back in the day, but with an added freshness that modern technology enhances. There are some brilliant arrangements of these songs. the stripped back arrangement of "I Go To Sleep", sung by Lisa Wright over the phone to ray when he was at his lowest ebb is truly heart wrenching. It really got me!

Design is by Miriam Buether and the first thing that hits you about this production is the stage set. Three walls floor to ceiling of various sized speakers with a recording studio booth window at the back. 

Fight Director is Terry King.

Great entertainment as well as educational, an amazing back catalogue of songs, a fantastic history lesson and a crazy, mixed up, shook up world of sixties pop culture. These songs will have you singing for days after the event as you walk off into your own Waterloo sunset. And listen out for some wonderfully ironic lines in the script.

 "Sunny Afternoon" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 21 February, so whatever you do, don't take all day and all of the night to decide to get a ticket. Get them now while you can.