Cilla - The Musical is back at Milton Keynes Theatre this week after a very successful debut national tour with Kara Lily Haywood returning in the lead role.
Based on the popular ITV drama series, the show tells the story of Cilla Black’s rise to fame, making it the ideal story to turn into a musical, writes Chris Gregg.
Cilla’s life was played out on a stage shared with the likes of The Beatles against the backdrop of the Merseybeat invasion of the swinging sixties.
Priscilla White is an ordinary girl from Liverpool whose teenage dreams of stardom lead her to becoming one of Britain’s best-loved entertainers of all time. It’s an introduction by a young John Lennon to music mogul Brian Epstein that changes her life forever and by the age of 25 she’d had two Number 1 hits.
This show could easily have become just another jukebox musical but its strength is that the story has a real heart and draws you in. The music, of course, is fantastic – and played live by the cast on stage with an amazing sound system in the theatre.
Leading as Cilla, the incredibly talented Kara Lily Hayworth beat thousands of hopefuls in nationwide open auditions for the role. Secret Cinema fans will have seen her as Satine in Moulin Rouge last year, and she has also been a YouTube hit with her band Zyrah Rose who appeared on Britain’s Got Talent.
This show hangs on her doing justice to the title character and with Cilla’s son Robert Willis as Executive Producer of this show, the pressure must have been on to deliver but Kara performs the role flawlessly with an utterly convincing performance and showstopping vocal which once again left the MK audience in open mouthed amazement.
Alongside Kara are Alexander Patmore taking on the role of Cilla’s devoted Bobby and Andrew Lancel (The Bill) returns as manager Brian Epstein. Both deliver strong, believable performances, making this one of the best acted shows I’ve seen which impressed me in a show which you’d expect to be primarily about the music.
Even if you don’t remember the sixties, you’ll certainly recognise the music in this show which features some of the best known songs of the era from Cilla’s greatest hits Anyone Who Had a Heart, Alfie and Something Tells Me to Twist and Shout by the Beatles, California Dreamin by The Mamas and The Papas’ and many more.
I’d recommend this show as a great feelgood musical which will go down well with all generations and is a touching reminder of what an incredible life Cilla had.
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