Search - Andrew Lloyd Webber, Ben Elton, Josie Walker :: The Beautiful Game (2000 Original London Cast)

Don't Overlook This Show, American Fans

mattyp4 | New York, NY United States | 12/14/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I saw this show in London a few years back. At the time I wasn't as big a theater fan as I am now (in fact, living in London's West End is what really got me into theater in the first place), yet The Beautiful Game manages to be the first & only Andrew Lloyd Webber show I've ever seen. His other shows don't really appeal to me, so I'm by no means a fan of his. I am, however, very familiar with his other scores.



I was drawn to this show b/c of the offbeat subject matter: football (soccer), the IRA, etc. It's certainly not your typical musical. It's basically a coming of age tale centered around a local football team, all set amongst the political/religious turmoil of Northern Ireland during the 1970s. The teenagers are forced to live their lives against a backdrop of violence & rivalry. Some of the characters get involved in the conflict, others stand aside, wanting to get on with their lives in peace, etc. The show was a lot of fun, though at times quite dark & violent.



It's also very inconsistent. For the book & lyrics, Lloyd Webber teamed up with noted English humorist Ben Elton, his first foray into musical theater (Elton went on to write We Will Rock You). The songs teter from corny & campy to deeply morose & melancholy. Some are quite memorable, while others are laughable. Think of it as a guilty pleasure.



That said, some of the more silly songs include "Don't Like You" & "The First Time." The former is a rather juvenile song of flirtation with silly, simplistic lyrics ("Don't like you / Don't like you / I don't think I like you"... which segueways to, naturally, "I like you / I like you / I really like you."). The latter is sung on the two leads' honeymoon... Yes, it's about having sex for the first time ("Hope there's lead in my pencil when / I lose my cherry this very first time, / 'Cos my God I don't half fancy her."). With the help of Ben Elton, it seems that Mr. Lloyd Webber has come a long way from singing & dancing cats.



I do love the title track-- the love song to football with a strangely irresistible melody. It'll have you cheering.



But it's the ballads that fare better. Songs like "Let Us Love In Peace," "God's Own Country," & the heartbreaking "Our Kind Of Love" stand out as the best of the bunch. "Our Kind Of Love" (actually sung by a supporting character) is an absolute show-stopper & one of the best musical theater ballads in recent memory. It gives me chills each & every time I hear it.



The rest of the songs are just okay. They're rather bland & don't come close to the aforementioned tracks.



So all in all, this was a fun show. Like I said, a bit campy (half naked guys in football kits; shaggy 70's hair & gaudy costumes), but tremendously emotional. It got mixed reviews in London & never took off. It's nothing like Lloyd Webber's other shows, but I guess audiences couldn't help but compare it to his previous achievements. I'm glad Decca released the CD in the States, though. While the show would have definitely flopped here (too dark for Broadway tourists; also too Irish/European), the music deserves to be heard.



Lloyd Webber fans should definitely give it a shot. As should fans of offbeat musicals, like myself. There was a lot of ambition in this show, & it comes through with this CD. The booklet doesn't include a synopsis, but it does have all the [priceless] lyrics."

Andrew Lloyd Webber's quest to write world's WORST musical!

Mark Andrew Lawrence | Toronto | 05/06/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I can only guess that Lloyd Webber is trying to write the world's worst musical. He has taken good ideas and turned them into bad musicals - SUNSET BLVD being a prime example - and taken terrible ideas and turned them into bad musicals: STARLIGHT EXPRESS anyone?What possessed him to collaborate with Ben Elton to write the word's first football musical, set in Belfast, 1969? If the intention was to make the rivalry on the playing field a metaphor for the on-going tensions between the Catholics and the Protestants, they miss the point. The football doesn't really figure in the plot. Instead we have a convoluted story, which doesn't cover much ground in Act One then tries frantically to cram all the action into Act Two.Then there's the score. It is no secret to anyone who has read my reviews that Lloyd Webber is NOT my favourite composer, but usually ha can come up with one or two good tunes: Even the awful SUNSET BLVD has "With One Look" and "As If We Never Said Goodbye" which outside of the context are decent diva arias. There are no such bonbons in the score for THE BEAUTIFUL GAME. The orchestrations allow a proper Irish feel, but there are NO TUNES in this piece.There are lyrics by Ben Elton. (Who told this man he was qualified to write lyrics? Oh yes, Andrew Lloyd Webber - as if he would know a good lyric!!) Most of the lyrics are empty, but some are downright stupid. The booklet has the lyrics - not that you'll want to read them - but lacks any information about the show, including a synopsis.It is quite possible that a winning cast and some solid production values may have overcome the weaknesses in the writing but judging from the reviews and the short run attained by THE BEAUTIFUL GAME that doesn't appear to be the case.People - it's time to stop supporting shows just because Andrew Lloyd Webber plasters his name on the. Listen to his shows critically - ask yourself: is the story being told through the songs? Are the characters being developed through the songs? THAT is what good musical theatre writing is all about."

Off His Game

Ricky Hunter | New York City, NY United States | 09/21/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Even Andrew Lloyd Webber's lesser shows have an occasional song that is sweetly beautiful (even the rather dull Aspects of Love and the disjointed Whistle Down the Wind) but Beautiful Game seems to be lacking in even one song to grab on to. The lyrics by Ben Elton are pedestrian at best and far too repetitious (perhaps he was spurned on by the music). The performers themselves seem to be quite able, if not particularly distinctive. It does not seem the work of someone who has spent over three decades in the theatre. Lloyd Webber seems completely out of his territory with this material and only very briefly in the song If This is What We're Fighting For does the correct note of passion creep in but by then it is far too little and far too late as the listener's attention will have drifted by then. One can admire the composer's attempt to try new things but this should have been stopped before it reached this stage."