LOVE AND DEATH AND AN AMERICAN GUITAR
LOVE AND DEATH AND AN AMERICAN GUITAR, Highway Run Productions at the Hayes Theatre, August 24 and 31, and September 7, 2014. Pictured: Toby Francis
Jim Steinman may well be the most famous songwriter you’ve never heard of.
But if you’ve ever belted out Total Eclipse of the Heart in the shower, or surreptitiously turned up Bat Out of Hell on the car radio, you’ll know him. Likewise, It’s All Coming Back to Me Now, You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth, I’d Do Anything For Love and dozens of other classics.
In short, Steinman is rock royalty, but - as is so often the story – one who was sidelined for the more marketable theatrics of a motorbike-riding Meat Loaf and big-haired Bonnie Tyler.
In his tribute to Steinman then, Love and Death and an American Guitar, it’s fair to say that cabaret star Toby Francis has got the musical side of things sorted. From the first few instantly recognisable chords of Bat Out of Hell, it’s clear we’re in for one hell of a ride.
That’s not all however: Francis has crafted a show as engaging in its narrative as it is in its soundtrack. When paired with his fabulous voice and wicked charisma, it’s the total package.
Francis picks up Steinman’s story in the mid 1970s as Steinman struggles to finish and find financial support for his newly created rock opera, Neverland, a dystopian take on Peter Pan.
Although the musical never took off (it had only one brief workshop in 1977), songs from it formed the basis of the iconic album Bat Out of Hell, and with it, the making of Marvin Lee Aday – better known as Meat Loaf – at the expense of Steinman’s own shot at fame and fortune.
Backed by stunning projections by production designer (and real-life partner) Lauren Peters, Francis is convincing at bringing Steinman’s resulting anger and resentment to life, and has a voice equally adept at belting out the big choruses as finding the small moments of tragedy in them.
As Tinkerbell and other female characters, singer Noni McCallum is a perfect match in terms of vocal power and stage presence. Her version of Total Eclipse of the Heart is surprisingly haunting, and a world away from the melodrama of the Bonnie Tyler original.
While there were a few fudged lyrics on the night we saw it, Francis charmed his way through them, and besides, everyone was having too much fun by that point to care.
So make a note: if you haven’t heard of Toby Francis yet, you will very soon. Love and Death and an American Guitar is only the beginning of much, much bigger things for him.
