Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical Reviews

Tony Glazier from London, England

ANY BOB MARLEY MUSIC CAN NEVER FAIL.

This was always going to be a big success because of the popularity of his music and particularly with those who were alive during his time. Enhanced during the early years of the London Carnival where there was so much live West Indian music. I did initially find it rather slow and disjointed but I came to expect and understand it. For a Sunday evening the audience were very quiet and hardly singing or even swaying to the music at all. I came to the conclusion that they were not very serious music enthusiasts. I intended to dance there but as no one else was so I did not. Only one of the Ushers was dancing as far as I could see. I did not see anyone telling anyone not to dance, it is just that no one started. I am really a live music enthusiast but almost all the music was pre recorded although they did have a drummer, two guitarists, a trumpet and trombone who only played with a very few of the songs. I had hoped and expected they would have had live accompaniment with all the songs and hopefully a saxophone as well for many songs. So it is a nice story and done well but for me rather fails as a music concert compared with how it could have been. The theatre is a little older and smaller than the Hackney Empire but is well maintained and the toilets are kept clean including during the show. Outside at entry time before the show was a bit of complete confusion and not helped by the requirement to show a code on a smart phone which could not be printed on paper for anyone who did not carry one. ( Not just told not to print it, but it was blocked from being printed! ) Help was available at the ticket office though. It took us about 12 minutes to eventually get through. Although confusion reigned they were mostly quite friendly though. The ticket front page did not include the Lyric street number and as "she" knew where it was, we went to the other end before having to come back!

Lyn from London, England

REALLY DISAPPOINTED

Being Bob Marley fans we were really excited and looking forward to seeing the show, however, were both left very disappointed. We were surprised that 'Bob' introduced each member of the cast at the beginning of the show. Not sure this made for a good start. It felt like we were watching a 'budget' show as the set was extremely basic. It didnt help that not only was the theatre incredibly hot but the sound system broke down in the first half. It was extremely difficult to understand the accents at times, which left us feeling bored. At one point three people around me were asleep! (This could be attributed to the unbearable heat). At half time we debated about leaving but decided to stay until the end - I will say that it was an improvement on the first half, having some audience participation. Rita Marley was their saving grace, she sang beautifully. Overall, the play came across as rushed and all stories lacking in depth. This is not the fault of the cast, but does result in a show that is lacking in many areas.

Nic from London, England

LACKED THE FEEL GOOD FACTOR

Was really looking forward to this musical as have always loved Bob’s music and what he stood for. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to his songs and not had a smile on my face. However, despite some great acting and fantastic singing I couldn’t help come out of the theatre with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. One part of the show see’s Bob’s character embrace his audience with a speech before he sings Redemtion Song. It made me feel quite uncomfortable and clearly has undertones of a current political movement. Bob Marley was not political and although stood against poverty & oppression, his way was non violent, through music and love and people of all races and religions coming together. Redemtion song has a clear message in it, not as it was portrayed. It made me quite angry this legendary figure has been hijacked to push a current agenda. Also some obvious songs missing. Particularly One Love(in my opinion would have been nice for the show to end on this one. Bobs main message). Fabulous singing and acting but might not quite be what you are expecting.

Isaac from London, England

DISAPPOINTING

This musical lacks the story because it's not clear what's the original intention of the director looking to reflect the whole life of Bob Marley or the political turmoil of Jamaica in these times that's is not really clear for the public. The ambiance is quite dark and very poor in terms of visual diversity, it means very monotonous in the scenography and the music selection is not the best. I think the lack of light, good ambientation of the scenes and a lack of a good traducción of these language very different to the English spoken original made this musical quite boring. Some people in the public talk in between the acting what's make even more difficult to understand what the actors try to say. The main actor makes a very good acting performance and is definitely the best in the show. An effort from the director should be made to make this musical even more attractive to the audience. The theater lacks a good air conditioning system, it's definitely a strong issue for a show of two hours.

Richard Stableford from London, England

GREAT SONGS : POORLY STAGING

Bob Marley songs are great , and they are well performed in this show. However the story is a confused one .. is it a love story ? A biography ? A political play ? A social comment ? .. I was confused and ended up not caring. The audience seemed to enjoy the songs (many songs begin in a lower more soulful tempo for dramatic effect) .

Jane Mcpherson from London, England

TERRIBLE .. NOT ENJOYABLE...

From the start it was so rushed.. his life went in a flash... could not understand the accents and quite boring at times.. at times it was easy to understand... we left at the interval....

Sarah from Kent

BORING

I was so excited for this show but found it flat and boring a d when some music was decent we were told we couldn’t clap! Rubbish

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