The cult of Cool Rider

By Ed Theakston

So the dust has settled on the fleeting phenomenon that was Cool Rider Live. Billed as the ‘Greasiest sequel in town’, the concert version of the film musical sequel to Grease took the West End by storm for a week, following a one-night only engagement at the Lyric earlier this year.

Audiences flocked to revel in the show – not just to watch it, but to experience it. Audience members were singing along in full voice, shouting out punch lines before they had been said, even dancing in the aisles. It was a very a-typical theatre experience especially in London where audiences are generally more reserved than, say, our American counterparts.

Cool Rider, inevitably, will be compared to Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Picture Show. Both inspire legions of passionate fans that dress up to attend the performances like a religious pilgrimage. Cool Rider without a doubt finds itself one of the great cult hits. But do the shows bare any other similarities beyond the high camp, theatrical entertainment they provide?

Well, to reduce these shows to nothing more than an entertainment that would be to dismiss the skill with which these shows are made. It seems herein lies the on-going success of both, as there is surely life in Cool Rider yet.

Before seeing Cool Rider, I was sceptical; not a fan of Grease and having never seen Grease 2 I wasn’t convinced it was going to be my thing. As soon as the overture started, though, it became clear how wrong I was. I now count myself among the legions of super-fans returning for more.

Of course, the cast was outstanding. Ashleigh Gray as Stephanie, the biker-loving lead, stole the show. The entire cast, though, impressed from the strong leads – including stand out moments from Aaron Sidwell, Hannah Levane and Stewart Clarke – right down to the all-singing all-dancing ensemble. Musically, the show was without fault. Musical director Lee Freeman’s new arrangements, which honour the original score but update it for a modern theatre audience, is perfectly executed by the tight band.

More than that, however, is the thought with which the production team has constructed the piece practically from scratch. No script existed, no score was available; the creative team had only a well-worn DVD as source material. And it was a somewhat surprising creative team, too; director Guy Unsworth most recently had success with serious political drama Farragut North at the Southwark Playhouse. His influence naturally showed in the production; where other directors might have produced little more than a fun tribute to the film, Cool Rider stands alone as an intelligent, witty and slick piece of theatre. It treads the line remarkably well by not relying on previous knowledge of the film, but still managing to do all the things the fans expect.

The same can be said for Rocky Horror and other musicals which find themselves with a cult following. Rocky Horror is still touring the world in its 40th anniversary production and it was adapted into a film with seminal performances from a cast including Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon and Richard O’Brien. But the show began in 1973 at the institution that is the Royal Court theatre, which prides itself on being a producer of cutting edge, top notch new writing. Subversive, sexy and unflinchingly funny, above all Rocky Horror is an intelligent satire and commentary of an era.

Nevertheless these shows will most likely never find themselves running for years in a big West End house. Surely, though, that they shouldn’t, and in fact there is absolutely a place for pop-up visitors like Cool Rider and Rocky Horror in our theatrical landscape, alongside the long runners like Les Misérables and American imports like Wicked.

The West End is going through a huge time of upheaval, with many shows not finding a secure footing; I Can’t Sing, Stephen Ward and From Here To Eternity have all struggled despite terrific casts and millions of pounds of investment. But the short stint Cool Rider had at the Duchess brought more excitement and vitality to the West End than it seems any of these shows managed to. Lavish sets and special effects were not missed in Cool Rider; four microphone stands and ‘that’ step ladder sufficed. There is, then, perhaps something to be said for shorter running shows with lower production values that know what their shelf life is, exciting audiences while they are here and then allowing another show to take over the theatre. This keeps the West End surprising and audiences fresh.

We would be in danger of a stagnant musical theatre industry if producers like Christopher D. Clegg and James Drury did not continue to take risks with shows like Cool Rider. Long may such work continue, as there is clearly an appetite for it. Who knows, we may be seeing the 40th Anniversary production of Cool Rider Live back on a London stage in years to come.

@EdTheakston

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