The extraordinary story of Susan Boyle is brought to life in this thrilling new musical which boasts Susan’s unique endorsement. Read more …
Charting her climb from humble beginnings in the small Scottish town of Blackburn, West Lothian, to a standing ovation at her audition for Britain’s Got Talent, through to her global superstardom, I Dreamed A Dream features many of the hit songs from Susan’s multi-platinum selling albums.
Leading an outstanding cast and orchestra and taking on the lead role of Susan Boyle is Elaine C Smith, and playing several roles alongside Elaine is Edinburgh pantomime favourite Andy Gray.
Often funny and touching, and Smith has a belter of a voice of her own in a score packed with hits, performed with vim by the large cast and a six-piece band.
It emerges as a vigorous, thoughtful and inspiring tribute to the life so far of a woman who was brutally dismissed as brain-damaged at birth, but who clung to the powerful love of the family who raised her, to the knowledge of her own talent, and to her dream of a life as a singer, until – in a moment of pure theatrical magic – that dream began to come true.
This production is a standalone show that should still play to audiences long after Elaine C Smith and Susan Boyle have left. In fact it deserves to become recognised as the Scottish equivalent to Blood Brothers, so strong are the production values.
The second half, with its presentation of Boyle’s hounding by the press, suffers from dealing with familiar aspects of the story compared to the fascinating early years. But the overall shape of the show is hard to fault, and in matching the gutsy good humour of its heroine without stooping to hagiography, this is a delight that deserves to go far, and fast, as she has done.
Director Ed Curtis keeps it moving efficiently, but I also couldn’t help feeling that Boyle’s own appearance finally rendered the rest of the show sadly redundant.
Smith makes a good physical match and can sing a bit, too. Yet the drama is subject to a destabilising sense that a woman who spent her life waiting in the wings is, in fact, waiting in the wings; when Boyle eventually steps out, she inevitably succeeds in upstaging herself.
For all its heartstring-tugging, perhaps, as with its subject, it’s a case of too much too soon.
In the end it emerges as a vigorous, thoughtful and inspiring tribute.
Smith helps to turn what could have been simply karaoke into something more.
The pace is fast, the energy high and the staging is theatrical, classy and slick.
The message Smith is keen to impart to her audience is that everyone is allowed to dream and that anyone can achieve their dreams, but she is also rather protective of Boyle in the process.
Having sat through some pretty awful biog-shows, I entered the theatre with a degree of trepidation but left entertained and moved by an excellently performed and executed little gem of a show.
A highly polished, technically proficient piece of musical theatre.
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Festival Theatre, Edinburgh from Friday September 21, 2012, until Saturday September 29, 2012. More info: http://www.edtheatres.com/festival
King's Theatre, Glasgow from Monday October 1, 2012, until Saturday October 13, 2012. More info: www.theambassadors.com/kings/
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