THEATRE REVIEW: This Is Mersey Beat - The Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

This musical show aims to replicate the atmosphere of Liverpool’s famous Cavern Club, an underground murky cellar with condensation dripping down the walls in an old warehouse during the ‘Swinging Sixties’, with the theatre audience imitating the young music lovers of the day who watched their guitar-playing idols on the small stage and danced The Stomp to the music being blasted out by hopeful young would-be pop stars.

The stage set was minimalistic, comprised only of just the amps and mics plus musical instruments along with a back-drop of a photograph of youngsters outside the Cavern Club with the word MerseyMania across the top of it.

The show opened as compere/narrator Paul Codman bounded onto the stage giving the audience some background information about Liverpool and the Cavern Club in 1962. He went on to introduce the Cavern Club’s resident Merseybeat combo, The Shakers, dressed in black leather waistcoats and winklepicker boots who belted out hits of the era such as, 'Some Other Guy', 'Rock And Roll Music', 'That’ll Be The Day', 'Peggy Sue', 'Do You Love Me', 'I Saw Her Standing There', and 'Love Me Do'.

This was a warm-up to what was about to come as they introduced Neil Ainsby, singing as Gerry, from Gerry And The Pacemakers who entertained with hits 'It’s Gonna Be Alright' and 'Pretend'.

Then came Victoria Jones, dressed in the style of Cilla Black who sang 'Shot Of Rhythm And Blues', 'Baby It’s You', and 'Boys'. Although she wasn’t quite a Cilla Black look-alike, she had her accent and mannerisms to a T, sporting a red wig and heavy black eye make-up.

Compere Paul Codman, intervened at interludes throughout, holding the show together and providing background to the music scene and updates from 1963 and 1964. It was evident that mentions of the groups of the era, such as, Rory Storm And The Hurricanes, Faron's Flamingoes and The MerseyBeats held a special place in the hearts of many of the audience, bringing back memories of their teenage years.

After a short break, The Shakers were back on stage sporting smart blue suits and we enjoyed Beatles hits such as, 'Please, Please Me', 'From Me To You', and hits from The Searchers and The Merseybeats of, 'Sweets For My Sweet' and 'I Think Of You', before a rendition of The Swinging Blue Jeans's, 'Hippy Hippy Shake'.

“Gerry” was then back on stage singing, 'How Do You Do It?', 'I Like It', 'Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying', and 'I’m The One'; this performance seemed almost more poignant as a memorial service had been held in Liverpool Cathedral for Gerry Marsden earlier that afternoon.

After we heard from the show’s compere that the Beatles had cracked USA with 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand', The Shakers performed a Beatles medley followed by another performance by “Cilla” of 'Love Of The Lost', and her first Number One, 'Anyone Who Had A Heart', which had the audience on their feet applauding and asking for more. She followed with, 'You’re My World', which had audience members holding hands in the air and singing along.

The show ended on a high with all the cast on stage singing and the audience singing and dancing to hits, 'She Loves You', 'Twist And Shout', and 'Johnny B. Goode'.

The show was devised, written and produced by Crosby musician/actor and founder of The Shakers, drummer, Tony O’Keeffe. It had a successful run of initial shows around the North West since its debut show in Southport in 2018, before the COVID pandemic stopped the live entertainment world dead in its tracks. It is proud to claim that every song in the show was performed by a Liverpool 1960’s artiste and it showcases the city’s world-beating musical heritage like no other touring production today.

It was an enjoyable two and a half hours' nostalgic trip back to the days of the ‘Swinging Sixties’; it was a full house and the audience were mainly aged sixty plus who really got into the spirit of the show by dancing and singing; I did spot some younger faces who were singing along and seemed to know all the lyrics to the songs, proving the ‘Mersey Sound’ lives on. It was evident that most of the more mature members of the audience had lived their teenage years with visits to The Cavern and that many of the songs performed held cherished memories for them.

It was an enjoyable reminiscence down memory lane, back into the depths of Number 10, Mathew Street in Liverpool with talented, professional musicians and singers; a great trip back to the start of the ‘Mersey Sound’ and the ‘British Invasion’ when ‘Merseymania’ ruled the world.

Reviewer - Anne Pritchard
on - 18/3/22