By Nick Stark
THE SWINGING SIXTIES may have lasted less than a decade – so to speak – but they continue to live long in the memory. Although the ripples of influence of that fleeting moment when British music, fashion and film commanded the attention of the world remain with us today, in reality that magical era lasted only a few short years. It began with the Who and the Beatles, blossomed with the Mods and Rockers, Carnaby Street, Jean Shrimpton and Michael Caine, and then was gone by the late 1960s, replaced by twin imports from America’s West Coast, hippiedom and flower power.
But for many Britons of a certain age – especially those who came of age in the early to mid-Sixties, – the era remains indeliby stamped on the memory. Which is why ModRock, the new musical which opened at North Hollywood’s El Portal theatre at the weekend, is such an unbashed pleasure.
ModRock is the simple story of twelve young Londoners in the mid-1960s,– six Mods, six Rockers, and the star-crossed romance that develops between two of them, Kate (a Mod) Modette, and Adam (a Rocker). The story itself is simple enough – boy meets girl, falls in love, they separate briefly after an altercation between the two gangs, and then are gloriously reunited as peace is made between the two tribes. But the story plays a distant second fiddle to the musical numbers, which include such classics as Bus Stop, Dedicated Follower of Fashion, You’ve Got Your Troubles and Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying.
The show opens as the two groups are introduced separately against a stark backdrop of depressed terraced housing in the working class neighborhoods of Stepney (Mods) and Wembley (Rockers). The Mods are a dandy-fied, aspirational, upwardly mobile group led by Simon (Scott Kruse) and his sister Kate (Melinda Porto). The Rockers by comparison are a harder, more resolutely working class bunch. With their jeans, work boots, leathers and DA haircuts, they seem like relics, unable to move with the times, something only Adam (Steven Good) seems to realize, imploring them to move out and move up in an early number, We Gotta Get out of this Place.
Early on the pace of the show seemed a little too frenetic and the humor rather forced – especially when the Rockers are introduced, with Adam’s sidekicks playing everything for laughs as though their models were the goofball members of John Travolta’s gang in Grease. And as an Englishman I found the accents less than convincing, with the cast often sounding like graduates from the Dick van Dyke school of English accents – no recommendation, I’m afraid.
But such quibbles were soon dispelled as the show moved through the gears with a series of excellent song and dance numbers which imbued the show with a strong feelgood factor. One of the earliest numbers was one of the best,when Kate and Adam relieve how they fell in love, to the strains of the classic Hollies’ number, Bus Stop, amid twirling umbrellas and some gorgeous vintage English fashions.
As the tensions between the groups rise and before and after the inevitable (and very well-staged) fight scene in a West End nightclub, there is a succession of impressive musical numbers, including You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me, Sunny Afternoon (with Harley Jay as Johnny really having a ball), For Your Love (ditto Ian Littleworth as Georgie), Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, You’ve Got Your Troubles and Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying.
Kruse especially shines as Simon, the dedicated follower of fashion, Mod Leader and most implacable Rocker hater, whose final, fitful detente with Adam leads to the show’s rousing finale, as they put aside their tribal rivalries to embrace flower power, declaring “I can’t wait for the rest of the Sixties”.
The show ends with a rousing chorus of the Petula Clark classic Downtown and I couldn’t help but leave the theater with a big smile on my face. If you like the music of this era (and who doesn’t?), you certainly will too.
A word about both the sets and the costumes. The clever use of a stark stage with a backdrop of just a few simple vintage photos from London of the era is very effective and keeps the focus on the performers. And the costumes – not so much the Rockers but certainly those of the Mods – are a delight, and had me wondering about the location of the nearest vintage clothing shop so I could score some striped drainpipes and a pair of winklepickers.
ModRock, now playing at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood. For tickets click here or call 818-508-4200. facebook.com/ModRockTheMusical; Twitter.com/ModrockMusical
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