Tony! [The Tony Blair Rock Opera] – Park Theatre, London

A review of Tony! [The Tony Blair Rock Opera], a collaboration between Harry Hill and Steve Brown on now at London’s Park Theatre.

Tony!

I was intrigued enough to buy tickets when I saw the Park Theatre were putting on a rock opera all about Tony Blair, but I still wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I certainly wasn’t expecting Gordon Brown to sing a song about macroeconomics that had me laughing until I cried. This world premiere musical, by Harry Hill and Steve Brown, is the right kind of silly for a good night’s entertainment.

Starting with a deathbed scene before flashing back to tell Blair’s life story, this very irreverent musical takes us on a nostalgia trip to tell the story of the rise and fall of New Labour. Key milestones in young Tony Blair’s life set him on a path to No. 10. He meets Gordon and Cherie. Tries out a new kind of left-wing politics. Rides a wave of hope into the top job. Until it sours. The hero of the Balkan conflict gets embroiled in an unwinnable ‘War on Terror’. Where is that pesky evidence of the weapons of mass destruction everybody knows exist? And why aren’t things coming as easily to old Tony any more?

This isn’t quite a full life story – there is an unmined vein of Blair’s post-Prime Ministerial career. But as a whistle stop tour of the first few decades of his life, Tony! packs a lot of detail in. The story is told through song (of course). Steve Brown has written numbers in a range of styles which knowingly send up the musical format. There are duets which hearken back to a Hollywood Golden Age. Osama Bin Laden and his harem singing cheerfully about killing the infidels. And a number where Bin Laden, George W. Bush and a very Groucho Marx-ian Saddam Hussein show us that maybe there’s not so much difference between Western leaders, dictators and terrorists after all.

A Comic Rock Opera With A Message

Because Tony! isn’t all frivolity and comedy wigs. After all, if the world is run by a***holes, didn’t we put them there? This is a none too subtle message underneath the gags; it’s all well and good pointing out Tony Blair’s failures now, but didn’t we as a country hand him a resounding victory after the Iraq invasion?

Well not me, anyway. I wasn’t here at the time. I’m going to play the foreigner card. Although I can say, as someone who didn’t grow up in the UK, that not knowing all the references was not a barrier to enjoying my evening at the Park Theatre. I made a note of people I wasn’t familiar with, and consulted with my theatre buddy in the interval. You will be pleased to know that the portrayals of Robin Cook (Kaye Brown) and David Blunkett (Martin Johnston) were both accurate and amusing.

The characters I did recognise were also hilarious. I’ve mentioned Gordon Brown (Gary Trainor) – his mannerisms were perfect. Madison Swan as Princess Diana was so funny, the audience loving her exaggerated shy glances. Howard Samuels played a very good, campy arch-villain version of Peter Mandelson. And then there was Charlie Baker as Tony Blair. Baker keeps up a naive, puppy dog energy throughout. It’s a perfect response to the action, both in terms of real and made up events. He has great energy, and the audience responds to him very well – it’s hard to believe he hasn’t done more theatre.

Surrealism And Nostalgia

Again, not having grown up in the UK, I’m aware of Harry Hill without having seen too much of his comedy. I felt like I could see his hand in some of the details though. There was no particular reason for Tony Blair to constantly talk about his hero “Mick Jaggers”, but it was increasingly funny after a while. I was hoping there would be a reference to all the Kosovan children named after Tony Blair, and lo and behold there was. I feel like the ‘After the Break’ section before the interval also references Hill’s earlier TV work.

So as a rock opera-writing duo, I liked what I saw from Hill and Brown. This size of theatre is probably a safer bet than their last outing at the London Palladium (I Can’t Sing, The X Factor Musical). That is a harder venue to fill, whereas the audience at the Park was energised and having a great time. The two gentlemen next to my theatre buddy and I, who looked like they were probably 1990s communications or media types, were having the time of their lives.

There have been some mixed reviews of Tony! in various media outlets. Frankly I think some critics should lighten up. I don’t know why they seemed to be looking for something more profound from a Tony Blair Rock Opera. With good performances, a simple set and costume design by Libby Watson, snappy pacing by director Peter Rowe, and several memorably funny moments (especially in the excellent first half), Tony! in my opinion achieves what it sets out to do, and does it well.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 4/5

Tony! on until 9 July 2022