Local Hero - Royal Lyceum Edinburgh / Chichester 2022

[Deleted]

A brilliantly detailed review,Sir.Not sure what your background is but this is the kind of thoughtful and sensitive writing that the likes of The Stage should invest in.We are really blessed to have such in-depth and focussed journalism on the site.

[ceebee]

I look forward to reading more positive reviews over coming days, as Duncan's erudite but 'glacial' review seems to miss alot of the essence of "Local Hero". I'm sure Mark Knopfler won't lose any sleep over an online critic not knowing more than four of his songs.

[Deleted]

Does anyone know the running time for this? I was thinking of going on the matinee of the 13th, but I’ll be at Matilda for the evening show, and just wanted to know how much time I’d have between shows.

[altamont]

Duncan mentions above that it is 160 minutes including the interval, in preview

[ceebee]

Yes - 2hrs 40 mins including 20 minute interval.

[ceebee]

Good review of "Local Hero" from The Stage:

Local Hero review at Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh – ‘charming musical version of much-loved film’

Bill Forsyth’s 1983 film about a US oil exec who comes to Scotland and falls for the place and its people is beloved by many. It’s easy to see why – it’s a film of immense charm, a love letter to the transformative beauty of Scotland.
David Greig’s warm, new musical version has been adapted in consultation with Forsyth and features a slew of new songs from the composer of the original soundtrack, Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler.
Mac (Damien Humbley) is a Houston oilman sent by his eccentric, comet-obsessed boss to the tiny Scottish coastal village of Ferness to buy up the beach and build a refinery. Once there, he befriends pub landlord-slash-lawyer Gordon (Matthew Pidgeon) and his Glasgow-born girlfriend Stella (Katrina Bryan). As he brokers a deal with the locals, the town starts to cast a spell on him. He gains a new appreciation for the stars, the sea, the sand, and his tininess in the scheme of things.
Greig’s adaptation jettisons some of characters, the mermaid business and much of the stuff with the bunny. One of the major strengths of John Crowley’s production is its gentleness. It doesn’t overegg the 1980s setting and there are no overt Trump references despite the obvious parallels. It doesn’t overly romanticise small town Scottish life either; the fishing industry was in decline and most of the characters grab at the chance to inflate their bank accounts, as made clear in the song Filthy Dirty Rich.
Designer Scott Pask has conjured the coastal town using five oxidised blocks to represent the sea wall and a clutch of miniature houses along with a tiny version of the film’s famous red phone box. Knopfler’s music and Paul Arditti’s sound design create a sense of the sea as a presence, while the top half of the stage is taken up by a curved screen that video designer Luke Halls uses as a planetarium, streaked with comets, glowing green, then red.
Humbley is charming, if a bit too polished, as Mac, his transformation too swift, but he’s an ingratiating presence and has a nice rapport with the genial Pidgeon. Bryan gives a nuanced and strong performance as Stella, regretful, reflective, complex, with a fine voice. There are several good ensemble numbers, including the driving That’ll Do Me, in which the townspeople dream of what they’ll do with the money they make from the sale, and a party scene in which everyone get increasingly sozzled as the night wears on and Mac gets his first glimpse of the aurora borealis.
While some of the songs feel like filler and there’s nothing that matches the evocative beauty of the original score, Greig’s version works because it has a handle on what made the film so appealing. It captures its essence, its warmth, in a moving ode to Scotland and its skies.

[ceebee]

Great review of "Local Hero" from The Guardian:

Local Hero review – oil-movie gem strikes a salty musical note (4 stars)

Bill Forsyth’s bittersweet comic drama about a Scottish village’s fight with an oil firm sheds its whimsy in this tougher version, scored by Mark Knopfler
It is 1983 and there is an American in paradise. Mac arrives in Ferness, a coastal village in north-west Scotland, cradling two briefcases and an injured rabbit. He has flown in from Texas and is in need of a drop of the hard stuff, whisky, and rather more than a drop of the black stuff – oil. Mac’s energy firm wishes to buy the village and beach, and build a huge refinery in their place. But will the villagers sell? What price, if any, can one put on home?
These are questions posed by Local Hero, a new musical based on Bill Forsyth’s beloved 1983 film. Adapting it for the stage has brought two challenges, the first physical. Much of the original’s poetry came from simply pointing the camera at sea and sky. It was easy to understand how Mac could fall in love with and be changed for the better by such a place. Who wouldn’t? Such beauty has moral force, and director John Crowley enjoys reasonable success in suggesting it through effects – sunsets, the aurora borealis – projected on to a planetarium-like screen. The darkened auditorium stands for the horizon and lapping Atlantic; during ballads, singers stare out, yearning, above the audience’s heads. It helps that most who see this production in Edinburgh will have personal experience of that landscape. They will know the ache of a Highland twilight, the way that sorrow is an invisible band in the colour spectrum. This cannot be relied upon when the show transfers to London next year.
The second challenge is knottier: capturing the feel, the ineffable Forsythness, of the film. Bill Forsyth’s aesthetic is a tender melancholic whimsy. The men in his films are boyish, delighted by shooting stars and summer skies, forever seeking nice girls to make their knees weak.
Advertisement
Forsyth is a co-writer of this musical, together with the Royal Lyceum’s artistic director David Greig, and their collaboration has created a change in tone. The humour is saltier, the male leads tougher and, as for those nice girls, well, there are more of them, they are adults and they aren’t quite as nice. Stella, the hotel cook, was a sparkle-eyed cypher in the film; here, played by Katrina Bryan, she is, arguably, the title character, the hero who stands up for her locale, even though, as a Glaswegian, she is an incomer herself. “You won’t see the stars for the light,” she warns against the refinery, as someone named Stella ought. She has some enjoyably spiky scenes with Mac, played by Damian Humbley – gallus versus Dallas.
Mark Knopfler, whose score was so much part of the film’s charm, wrote the music and lyrics for the new songs. They carry the story and themes well enough, but one feels the lack of a true showstopper. Filthy Dirty Rich comes closest, Matthew Pidgeon, as Gordon the innkeeper, embodying its priapic ceilidh energy. Risking friction burns, he does the pelvic thrust wearing green jumbo cords.

The creative team have been admirably unafraid to allow an often very funny production to be sad deep in its bones. It is a calculated gamble. They know they have joy on tap: Knopfler’s celebrated Local Hero theme tune, Going Home, without which, like the iconic red telephone box, this show would be unimaginable. When these ring out, hearts lift.

[ceebee]

Good review of "Local Hero" in The Scotsman

Local Hero at Royal Lyceum Theatre review: ‘magic of Bill Forsyth’s film conjured up on stage’ (4 stars)

A BIG SKY, a beach, a row of tiny houses along a harbour wall; and in the foreground, an old-fashioned red telephone box, glowing in the west highland dusk. Oh yes, it’s Local Hero - but this time not Bill Forsyth’s legendary 1983 film, but the brand new stage musical version, co-produced by the Old Vic in London and Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum, which celebrated its joyful, touching and - in the end - highly emotional world premier at the Lyceum this weekend. Unpack the reasons why the Lyceum has felt compelled - twice in this spring season - to create shows based on world-famous films with instant name recognition, and they can seem brutal; much commercial theatre in Britain has been dependent for years on tribute shows that exploit the instant audience-appeal of popular music and film, and now the same box-office imperatives are spreading to the cash-strapped public sector. If the “show of the film” is set to play a growing part in theatre repertoires, though, then this gorgeous, convivial version of Local Hero - like the recent Lyceum/Bristol Old Vic staging of Touching The Void - demonstrates exactly how to do it, with grace, inventiveness, and a real feeling for the special quality of live theatre. Scripted by Bill Forsyth and David Greig, and featuring a brilliant series of 19 new songs by the film’s original composer Mark Knopfler, the show emerges as a slightly harder-edged version of Forsyth’s original story about a struggling west Highland fishing village suddenly transformed when young oil man “Mac” MacIntyre arrives from Houston, offering untold wealth in return for the right to build a giant oil refinery that would obliterate the village and the bay. The outstanding feature of John Crowley’s production is the rousingly excellent ensemble work of its terrific 15-strong cast, led by Damian Humbley as Mac, Matthew Pigeon as local lawyer and hotel owner Gordon Urquhart, and Katrina Bryan as Gordon’s partner Stella, a much more proactive character than her film equivalent. All of them sing magnificently, in Knopfler’s series of eloquent, witty and sometimes breathtakingly lyrical songs, from Mac’s beautiful meditative early ballad Houston We Have A Problem, to pitch-perfect whole-company comic numbers like Gordon’s memorable Filthy, Dirty Rich.

Lucy Hind’s choreography is outstanding; Scott Pask’s set, with its simple harbour wall and great shifting diorama of sky, works brilliantly, and often threatens to take the breath away. And if the show’s second half is too long, by one song and a couple of false endings, the overall effect is to conjure up again, with added historical perspective and theatrical energy, the pure magic of Bill Forsyth’s original work, 36 years ago: the idea of a possible Scotland that might learn how to exploit or conserve its huge natural resources for the benefit of the whole community, evoked with a comic lightness of touch that deservedly makes Local Hero one of the best-loved Scottish stories of the last half-century, and one with ever-stronger global resonances, across a troubled world.

[ceebee]

Average review of "Local Hero" in The Telegraph

Local Hero, Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, review: a beloved Scottish film ends up as a lacklustre musical (three stars)

There was excited anticipation – and some controversy – ahead of this world premiere of the stage musical based on Bill Forsyth’s iconic 1983 film Local Hero, in which a Texas oilman arrives in the fictional coastal village of Ferness, in the north-west of Scotland, intent on turning it into an oil refinery. The feelgood gloss took a decided knock when Forsyth (who is credited as co-author, with David Greig, of the book for the show) announced that he would not be attending the opening night.
The veteran filmmaker had, he said, been sidelined from the creative process and reduced to the role of a mere “editor”. We will probably never know whether his co-producers, the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh and London’s Old Vic, were guilty of gross disrespect, or Forsyth was at fault for having too thin a skin for such a collaborative process.
In any case, the proof of the proverbial pudding is that, had he been in attendance at last night’s opening, the filmmaker would have had entirely different reasons to express disappointment. Although director John Crowley succeeds in evoking much of the warm humour of the original film, Mark Knopfler’s songs are depressingly unmemorable.
What is strange is that the former Dire Straits frontman had two very distinct starting points for his score; namely, his much-loved theme tune for the 1983 film, and Scottish traditional music. Both feature, but neither stamps its authority on a set of songs that is characterised, both musically and lyrically, by an insipid sentimentality.
It’s a pity, as the production is blessed with some fine performances, not least from Matthew Pidgeon as hotel proprietor-cum-financial advisor Gordon. The early number in which (having just learned of the proposed oil deal) he celebrates his coming wealth is more memorable for Pidgeon’s hilariously exuberant performance than for anything happening on the musical front.
Damian Humbley, too, is nicely cast in the role of MacIntyre, the lonely Houston oil executive, which he plays with the perfect combination of go-getting arrogance, human frailty and self-effacing humour.
The book (from which Forsyth has distanced himself) winks at many of the film’s best-loved jokes, from a well-aged whisky being “old enough to be out on its own” to the unknown parentage of the village baby. The script takes some wrong turns, such as the irritatingly incongruous scene (complete with terrible song) in which the women of the village try to persuade the eccentric beach-dweller Ben to sell up and move into a retirement home.
Scott Pask’s understated set relies heavily upon Luke Halls’s impressive projections for its sense of spectacle, which it achieves most notably in the moments when it evokes the night skies over the Highlands. Ultimately, however, weighed down by Knopfler’s lacklustre score, the production seems perpetually stuck in second gear.

[NeilVHughes]

ceebee , good to see positive reviews for a production that could have been torn to pieces due to the warmth the original film is held, glad I took a punt.

[FrontroverPaul]

I'm not sure what the board policy is on such things, but I for one find reviews like these very interesting and useful to find here so thanks ceebee for locating and posting them.

[duncan]

Mar 23, 2019 22:03:16 GMT ceebee said:

I look forward to reading more positive reviews over coming days, as Duncan's erudite but 'glacial' review seems to miss alot of the essence of "Local Hero". I'm sure Mark Knopfler won't lose any sleep over an online critic not knowing more than four of his songs.

Absolutely no need to be snidey.

[ceebee]

Mar 24, 2019 13:53:26 GMT duncan said:

Mar 23, 2019 22:03:16 GMT ceebee said:

I look forward to reading more positive reviews over coming days, as Duncan's erudite but 'glacial' review seems to miss alot of the essence of "Local Hero". I'm sure Mark Knopfler won't lose any sleep over an online critic not knowing more than four of his songs.

Absolutely no need to be snidey.

Maybe re-read your review, which was pretty snidey and disrespectful towards Mark Knopfler. Turns out the professional critics found a little more merit in this very good piece of theatre which you were unable to appreciate.  I saw the show on Tuesday and Friday and it had tightened up a lot by the Friday, so perhaps you didn't catch a good preview.  I feel it is important to note too that when a production is in preview it is unusual to offer a critique, so I felt that you review was a little unfair as it was pre-press night.  I want to see shows like this succeed, not get strangled at birth due to an off-key preview.   Anyway, let's not fall out over this Duncan - life if far too short for such nonsense.  

[ceebee]

Mar 24, 2019 13:26:53 GMT FrontroverPaul said:

I'm not sure what the board policy is on such things, but I for one find reviews like these very interesting and useful to find here so thanks ceebee for locating and posting them.

Thank you Paul.  I hope I haven't breached any policies - I just wanted to share the reviews that have been published so far.

[ceebee]

Mar 24, 2019 12:18:39 GMT NeilVHughes said:

ceebee , good to see positive reviews for a production that could have been torn to pieces due to the warmth the original film is held, glad I took a punt.

Too right Neil.  I was actually very concerned on the Tuesday that I went that a film that I love might end up being completely ruined.  Thankfully, it hasn't been.  The plot is slightly different and characters have been adapted, but I think that this is a great show and by the time I saw it again on Friday, it had tightened up significantly and the audience laughs/applause was blending in nicely (where on Tuesday things were a little staccato).  I write this reply sitting on the Isle of Skye longing for the aurora to appear, but sadly it is overcast this evening!

[Deleted]

As stated elsewhere on the board,I always welcome new musicals in general and love it when a new home-grown show is launched so will definitely support this when it hits the glittering WE.From those who have seen it up in Scotland,what target audience is this aimed at and do you think it will be an immediate smash or a grower or more of a niche show?Just interested to see what you guys think.

[ceebee]

Mar 24, 2019 20:11:55 GMT @alltheworld said:

As stated elsewhere on the board,I always welcome new musicals in general and love it when a new home-grown show is launched so will definitely support this when it hits the glittering WE.From those who have seen it up in Scotland,what target audience is this aimed at and do you think it will be an immediate smash or a grower or more of a niche show?Just interested to see what you guys think.

My heart hopes it will be a smash, but my head says that it's a particular kind of humour.  Compared to most shows it is slow-paced and subtle.  Fans of the film should probably like it, but actually it is a good standalone piece of theatre regardless of the film.  It's playing to a "home" audience, and I think tweaks will be made once the run is completed in Edinburgh.  As co-producers, I'd hope the Old Vic would want to explore every opportunity to improve on the show where possible.  Compared to other shows, "Local Hero" isn't high maintenance, and therefore the chance of recouping costs and being profitable are probably quite high.

I'd see it again in a heartbeat, but I am somewhat biased as a fan of the film.  The target audience is adult - I think kids would be bored.  The show should appeal to adults across the board - young and old.  Where I think it will stand out is that it is not likely to be pigeonholed.  Like the film it is funny but also can leave you yearning to have the unanswered questions answered - I actually think the stage version provokes more questions than the film, and it has cleverly been set in the same era as the film but the characters and narrative are very relevant to today's world.

The only comparison I have is "Groundhog Day", which I thought was excellent and caught on via word of mouth and reviews.  To me "Local Hero" is a smash, but I think to most it will be a grower, and to some it won't hit the mark because they won't be able to cope with the unnaturally slow pace in places.  It's not "Hairspray"...  (Thank heavens.)

One things for sure - high quality new musicals are few and far between, and I'd rather see more attempts at genuinely new musicals rather than jukebox musicals.  It is notable that Mark Knopfler only chose to include one sung song from the film.  The "Going Home" theme IS Local Hero, so obviously is included.  Some of the folk tunes for the ceilidh are from the film, but the bulk of the show comprises brand new songs specifically written from scratch.  This is what impresses me with the stage version: the writers have been brave enough to cut the cord with the film and dare to try new and different angles on a well-known and well-loved story.  This is to be commended in my view.

[Deleted]

Mar 24, 2019 19:47:26 GMT ceebee said:

I feel it is important to note too that when a production is in preview it is unusual to offer a critique, so I felt that you review was a little unfair as it was pre-press night. 

If it's open to the paying public, then people are allowed to offer their opinion, good, bad or indifferent.

[ceebee]

Mar 24, 2019 23:25:18 GMT @tbfl said:

Mar 24, 2019 19:47:26 GMT ceebee said:

I feel it is important to note too that when a production is in preview it is unusual to offer a critique, so I felt that you review was a little unfair as it was pre-press night. 

If it's open to the paying public, then people are allowed to offer their opinion, good, bad or indifferent.

You are indeed right 'tbfl'. (It's just bad form to do so in previews.

[showgirl]

It's actually quite normal, especially here, to post opinions during previews, but acknowledging that the production is still previewing. Bloggers do the same. I find these opinions really helpful if I've yet to book something but have it on my radar as a possibility, especially if early comments suggest it will definitely be worth seeing - or the reverse. When it's neither one nor the other, I wait for more views.

[Deleted]

Thank you ceebee for your insight and your enthusiasm.Much appreciated,Sir.I sincerely wish this show well and hope it is a big success for all concerned.

[BurlyBeaR]

Mar 24, 2019 19:49:36 GMT ceebee said:

Mar 24, 2019 13:26:53 GMT FrontroverPaul said:

I'm not sure what the board policy is on such things, but I for one find reviews like these very interesting and useful to find here so thanks ceebee for locating and posting them.

Thank you Paul.  I hope I haven't breached any policies - I just wanted to share the reviews that have been published so far.

Generally speaking we would prefer members to post links to reviews rather than copy/paste them onto the forum in their entirety, just to avoid any possible issues with copyright. If you just wanted to post a comment from a review that’s different of course, we’d just ask that you say what the source is. 

[Someone in a tree]

Mar 24, 2019 23:31:46 GMT ceebee said:

Mar 24, 2019 23:25:18 GMT @tbfl said:

If it's open to the paying public, then people are allowed to offer their opinion, good, bad or indifferent.

You are indeed right 'tbfl'. (It's just bad form to do so in previews.

I disagree. If they are charging then why can't you comment? And as others say mark it as Preview.

[ceebee]

Mar 25, 2019 8:09:17 GMT Someone in a tree said:

Mar 24, 2019 23:31:46 GMT ceebee said:

You are indeed right 'tbfl'. (It's just bad form to do so in previews.

I disagree. If they are charging then why can't you comment? And as others say mark it as Preview.

Comments are fine.  However what was posted earlier was a review complete with a mark out of ten and a full summary.  And since when did we start quantifying our appreciation of any arts on the basis of "they're charging, I'm paying, what's the problem"?  To me this shows disregard for the creative process, the need to test work (particularly new work) beyond workshopping in front of a live (and paying) audience.  Personally, I'd prefer a little respect for why previews are offered to the paying punter: it gives the curious and the early adopters the opportunity to see near-on the finished article, with the caveat that as a preview it's open to being reworked, pace changes etc.  The preview I saw on Friday was pacier, more cohesive, and had a far closer connection with the audience than the preview I saw on Tuesday.  Judging by the reviews from the press night, it appears that Saturday's performance went down very well.  The danger of reviewing theatre per se in preview is that somebody can experience an off-key performance and award 6/10 for a show that by press night is being awarded 8/10.  There lies my point.  For the record, if anybody cares, my own scores would have been 7/10 for Tuesday's performance and 9/10 for Friday's. 

[andrew]

This is a larger conversation than Local Hero but reviewing previews has felt more and more acceptable to me as producers charge more and more for preview performances, and deliberately open themselves up more and more during workshops and rehearsals to public scrutiny. Even more so when the common practice is for professional reviewers to see a preview performance then release their review on opening night. I don't know if any of that applies to Local Hero, but I don't feel bad anymore about fully reviewing a production in previews on a website like this, and don't criticise anyone who does so. Should a national newspaper review a first preview? Probably not. Can a theatre enthusiast post all their thoughts on an internet forum? Definitely.