Friday evening at the Edinburgh Playhouse saw a concert celebrating legendary ‘knights’ of the entertainment industry who have transformed the face of music, film and theatre in recent decades. The Knights of Music included songs from Sir Elton John, Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber, Sir Cliff Richard, Dame Shirley Bassey, Sir Paul McCartney and The Beatles, Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Sir Tim Rice, Sir Mick Jagger, Sir Bob Geldof, Bono, and the newly knighted Sir Rod Stewart.
A vibrant cast of West End performers including Over the Rainbow star Sophie Evans, High School Musical winner Liam Doyle, Andy Coxon (The Carole King Musical and Sister Act amongst others) and Simon Schofield (The Sound of Music and Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat amongst others) joined a live band to perform some memorable musical numbers such as , ‘Rocket Man’ (Elton John) ‘Twist and Shout’, ‘Hey Jude’ (The Beatles)’ I Dreamed a Dream’ (Les Miserables) ‘Do you want to dance’ (Cliff Richard) ‘It’s Not Unusual’ (Tom Jones) ‘Close Every Door’ (Joseph) ‘Satisfaction’ (Mick Jagger) and ‘Maggie May’ (Rod Stewart)
But it was another Schofield – television and stage star Phillip – who took centre stage as the host and, having performed in Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat at the Playhouse back in 1994, the host of ITV’s This Morning couldn’t resist reprising his role for his adoring audience.
It was a solid two hours of a medley of old songs and most of the audience lapped it up, despite what appeared to be a small technical problem with one of the microphones in the first half of the show. I found it enjoyable enough but my preference is to see original songs performed by the original performers. Watching the Boomtown Rats’ iconic ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’ being performed by three men and three women in dance costumes cut a somewhat surreal image for this ageing reporter…
That said, Schofield (both of them) and the cast of singers and performers received a standing ovation at the end of the show. The Knights of Music is enjoying the briefest of runs with only four shows – Nottingham, Newcastle and London being the only other venues – so Edinburgh was privileged to see the show.
Knights of Music – hosted by Philip Schofield.
Edinburgh Reporter rating ***
Author of The Team for Me - 50 Years of Following Hearts. Runs Mind Generating Success, a successful therapy practice in Edinburgh. Contact me if you want rid of any unwanted habits. Twitter @Mike1874
