You loved the movie, now it’s time to enjoy this feel good celebration of soul on the Peterborough stage.
The Commitments - based on the BAFTA award-winning film classic – is back on tour and arrives at Peterborough’s New Theatre on Tuesday May 16 running through until Saturday May 20.
The Commitments received universal critical acclaim following its London World Premiere and was quickly hailed as a smash hit musical sensation.
This is the story of Jimmy Rabbitte, a young working-class music fan, who shapes an unlikely bunch of amateur musicians and friends into the finest soul band Dublin has ever produced.
With over 20 soul classics performed live on stage including: Night Train, Try A Little Tenderness, River Deep, Mountain High, In The Midnight Hour, Papa Was A Rolling Stone, Save Me, Mustang Sally, I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Thin Line Between Love and Hate, Reach Out, Uptight, Knock On Wood, I Can’t Turn You Loose and more!
The Commitments musical has been adapted from the novel by Booker prize winning author Roddy Doyle himself and is directed by Andrew Linnie.
“The original stage show of The Commitments in 2013,” says Roddy Doyle, “was a brilliant experience from my point of view. It stayed in the West End for over two years. Then it went on a successful tour.”
Has he felt emotional returning to this first work of fiction? “It’s brought back a lot of memories, yes. I was a geography and English teacher at the time when I wrote the novel. I wanted an excuse to bring a bunch of young people together in book form and capture the rhythm of Dublin kids yapping and teasing and bullying.
“But I needed to find a setting outside school and that’s when the idea of a band came to me. A big band with a brass section and backing vocals as opposed to three or four young men that was the norm back then.”
Roddy has resisted the temptation to update the action. “The vibrancy is still there but so is the tension caused by lack of communication. For instance, will Deco, the obnoxious lead singer, turn up on time? These days, you’d track him down on your mobile in no time at all. But there wasn’t that option in the late 80s. And I chose ‘60s music – Motown and Memphis soul – because, at the time, it felt timeless. Thirty-five years later, I was right.”
Don’t miss your chance to see this fabulous show right here in the city at the New Theatre from Tuesday May 16 – Saturday May 20.
To book call 01733 852992 or visit https://newtheatre-peterborough.com/event/the-commitments/