Louis Smith, Melody Thornton, Rachel Stevens and Giovanni Spano came to Newcastle’s Theatre Royal on sunday to Rip It Up The 70’s style.
The third installment of this show now means we have transported back to the fifties, sixties and now the the seventies. Would it Rip It Up or had the show become a bit of a Disco Diva?
Check out our review of last years 60’s show here and when i saw the 50’s version in London for my previous site here
For one day only Newcastle’s Theatre Royal was the scene for the show. A smaller stage meant production and staging was limited and not as large as i had seen for the fifties version at London’s Palladium previously. However with a small live band maybe a large stage wasn’t quite needed for them.
When i have mentioned this show to people a majority who have heard but not seen refer to it as a dance show, however this is a celebration of the music of the era. Louis Smith points out that nobody in the line up is a trained dancer which may be true however with Rachel Stevens and Melody Thornton coming from pop bands they are well schooled in dance choreography/routines.
The show was split over two intervals showcasing different elements. The first focused more on individual songs from different styles of music across the era, and the second a little more on artists that defined the era.
Louis Smith is the constant in the Rip It Up series and obviously enjoys his role within it. Coming from a gymnastic background he is adept to working with lines and choreography in a very different way nevertheless is great to see his ability in dance and he even proves he may have a career as a singer yet. Rachel Stevens i had been looking forward to seeing and wasn’t disappointed. Showing us both her dance and singing ability i however felt she was underused in this production. Melody Thornton previously of the Pussycat Dolls wow’d with her belting voice and was the obvious choice for the soul section of the show.
Now the programme shows Lee Ryan on the front cover with the above stars, and to be honest on watching this i’m not sure what more he could of added, the three more than ably carrying the show themselves especially with Giovanni Spano putting in a solid shift as singer of the band -whom i actually think should be there on par with the others. Spano impressed me as the standout star and unsung hero. Picked not for his long locks which would of been right in place for the era, his voice was purely brilliant, across many songs including Elton John and Bowie amongst many others. He was able to carry the era and made every song he sang his own without imitation.
The problem with the show though or with any era it covers is that there’s so much to choose from i sense someones always going to be missed off that you like. However such is the variety i noticed different parts of the audience participating more dependent on what style they covered at different times. The audience were encouraged to participate, get up and clap and get lost in the music which helped the atmosphere and made you forget it was four o’clock in the afternoon!
Rip It Up the 70’s was as enjoyable as its predecessors and was a great afternoon out for me and no doubt an even better evening for those at the later performance in the evening. With the lack of staging it was left to the cast to bring the presence and the cast did so. Compliments also go out to the accompanying dancers who produced beautiful moments of dance to compliment the singing – so here’s to you also.
Being born in the 80’s i’m certainly looking forward to the next edition of which i sense could be my favourite yet..but i will have to wait until the end of this tour at least! Rip It Up the 70’s is a great night out and as ever a great celebration of another era that helped to define music today!
Running until 6th November grab tickets if you can.
Pete Tong & The Heritage Orchestra, conducted by Jules Buckley, will bring a brand new Ibiza...
Affiliates
Some of the below links are affiliated. This means we may recieve a commison when you book through the official ticket provider using our links.
Get more stuff
Subscribe to our mailing list and get interesting stuff and updates to your email inbox.
To Top
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptRejectRead MoreSettings
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.