Search - Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, Simon Lee :: The Likes of Us

ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER + TIM RICE = A DELIGHTFUL MUSICAL

Marijan Bosnar | Croatia | 11/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The story of "The likes of us", the first ever musical made by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice is indeed an old one, dating 40 years in the past. Before the two met, ALW was starting his history studies at Oxford and Rice was a law student. Then in 1965 the two of them made acquaintance and, realizing their potential, began working on a musical called "The likes of us", set in the Victorian London and concerning the life and exploits of one dr. Thomas Barnardo (1845-1905), a British physician and philanthropist who founded many homes for destitute and homeless children of London's East End. Although the musical numbers were completed and a book written, the show never reached the stage. Until, now that is, when in July this year "The Likes of us" had its first and so far only staging at ALW's annual Sydmonton Festival. That live performance was recorded and is now released as this double CD edition.



Due to the fact that the book was never finished and eventually got lost, Tim Rice wrote a new one for this performance. The structure of the show captured on these CDs is rather unique, since the musical numbers are tied together with the brief narrations between them instead of the conventional dialogue. This narration is delivered by the character of The Narrator, played here with enormous gusto and humour, by Stephen Fry, one of the most respected British comedians today. His witty remarks are one of the great assets of this recording.



The score, although written 40 years ago, is pure gold. The melodies, freshly orchestrated, grab you from the very beginning in the best ALW fashion. This is not the classy rock or pop sound of their later joint shows `Superstar' and `Evita', nor the operatic crescendos of `The Phantom', but rather the beautifully arranged pieces of music similar in style to the ones in the musical theatre of that time. The orchestrations are done very well, and the part where the orchestra takes a solo melody within a song helps us to capture the loveliness of the score. The numbers itself comprise of the solo numbers and ensemble ones, mixed with dancing. Only two of the tunes did ALW use in his future work: a bits of `The likes of us' was used in `Variations' and `Love is here' later become `Travel hopefully' in `By Jeeves'.



Of course, one has to make reference to Tim Rice's lyrics. Even though ALW used many good lyricists throughout his career, an undisputed fact remains Tim Rice was the best of the lot. He has a special gift of playing with words, finding perfect synonyms to express a certain action. Also, he is especially noted for his humorous cynicism, which is also evident here. One of the funniest numbers in this piece, called `Going, going, gone', features Tim Rice as an auctioneer handling an auction. This was the first song ever written by ALW and Rice and it is very nice to hear Sir Tim singing this entertaining piece in which his craftsmanship with words is obvious in full extent. The show does not lack humour, as a number called `A lion-hearted land', taking place at the cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street clearly demonstrates as well.



The cast performing this work is equally good. Some of them we've encountered before, like Hannah Waddingham, who plays here a prostitute called Rose, and can also be heard on the original cast recording of ALW's musical `The beautiful game'. The role of Dr. Bernardo is played in a pleasing tenor voice by Adam Brazier, who currently stars as Walter Hartright in the just opened Broadway production of ALW's newest musical `The woman in white'. The other roles, such as Barnardo's helper Syrie, are also well cast.



The CD comes in a nice package, together with a booklet and a libretto. The booklet contains the informative notes written by ALW, Tim Rice and Stephen Fry. The sound quality is excellent.



Conclusively, "The likes of us', besides being a really good musical, is also a reminder of just how great collaborators ALW and Tim Rice are. The musical itself be it in its present form or with a little bit of reworking, has all the qualities needed for a successful stage run. In the booklet, Tim Rice mentions the pleasure he and Sir Andrew had in working together again. We can only hope this reunion will be enough for them to take a next daring step: that is, their collaboration on an entirely new musical project. In the meantime, the musical theatre buffs will have to enjoy this little gem that Lloyd Webber and Rice duo finally decided to bestow upon the musical devotees.

"

Absolutely promising!

Dvarg | Drammen Norway | 12/01/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Likes Of Us is not a great musical. It's narration is awkward, forced and dramaturgically immature. Too many musical numbers are gives to umimportant characters, and the plot too often strays away from anything interresting. The characterisations are weird and underdevelopped.



When that is said, The Likes Of Us contains some of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's most tuneful, witty and touching songs. Taken for what it is, a musical experiment by two very young song writers, The Likes Of Us is very promising and absolutely fascinating.



The witty narration added to this performance (unfortunately not separately tracked) clearly points out the show's weaknesses. Which helps the audience appreciate what truly is good by this show. I would without hesitation recommend anyone to buy this recording rather than anything ALW wrote after Song And Dance."

Not Bad For A First Effort

Terry Carroll | Canada | 05/12/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Hello,

I have listened to this a few times now and believe what it is basically a cross between "Oliver" and "Tenderloin", as say Leslie Bricusse might have written it. It is cute, but sounds very derivative and "'60s"

I enjoyed the commentary at first, but by the third listening, found it very annoying. It is too bad that the tracks were not set up so the talking could be skipped. I am thinking seriously of loading the whole thing on my computer and editing out all the talk and applause.

I am glad I bought it, but only as a historic curiosity which makes my Lloyd Webber collection complete. I don't see much future listening."