Jeff Waynes War Of The Worlds Stage Musical

[ori-STUDFARM]

One of my earliest Sci-Fi experiences was the amazing prog-rock version of War Of The Worlds done by Jeff Wayne. I have written about it many times on different forums, but was horrified to find that it isn't as big outside of the UK. Many die hard Sci-Fi internet friends I have in the US and Canada had never even heard of it. I don't know how familiar anyone here is with it, but if I convince one person to give it a listen, I'll be happy! I've done a search and see that WotW was a topic for episode 12. iTunes only goes back to 14 and so I don't know if it has been covered or to how much detail.

In summary, it is a concept album released in 1978 and stars (amongst others) Richard Burton, Justin Hayward (Moody Blues) and David Essex. It spent 290 weeks in the UK album charts and made it into the top 10 in 22 countries reaching number 1 in 11 of them! (yes, I'm ripping off Wiki!! :))

The music uses traditional stringed and orchestral instruments mixed with synth and electric guitar and gives a haunting and sometimes quite scary sound that runs as a theme through the whole album. Richard Burton plays the Journalist and narrator of the story. The songs basically take us on a journey following the Journalist as he tries to survive an invasion from Mars and is surprisingly loyal to the original HG Wells book.

Jeff Wayne is currently touring with a stage show version which I first saw December 2007 and then again in June of this year. I have written a full review on my latest showing. Again, it is on another forum, but I will copy and paste it onto the bottom of this posting. The first 9 minutes can be heard on this link. You Tube also has the rest of it available. Jeff Wayne war of the worlds - eve of the war

My review from June this year.
I went to see it again last night and was left feeling slightly disappointed. The show itself was fantastic. The music is still fantastic. There was a couple of minor changes that didn't really effect it too much. In fact, most changes were improvements. The new effect for Richard Burton is amazing!! So, what was the problem?..........I think it was three things.

The first being the novelty factor. I'd been before and knew what to expect. As amazing as it was, it couldn't beat my first time. Kinda the same as I feel when I drink Dr Pepper. You never beat your first taste!!

Secondly, the audience. Nottingham Trent FM Arena seats about 10,000. When I first saw this (15th Dec 2007) there was a near capacity crowd. This crowd all sang along, whooped and cheered every song and gave a massive standing ovation at the end. Last night was a smaller crowd. The top rows at the back were all curtained off and there were many areas that were far from full. At a guess (though I'm useless at guessing crowd figures) I would say there was about 2000 people less. Everyone applauded, but it had a hesitant start with people seeming unsure if they should applaud yet. There were no whoops or whistles, just clapping. Even at the end, people seemed reluctant to stand whilst they applauded!

The third was a problem with the Arena. When I saw this first time round, all the lights were turned off. All focus was on the stage show, as it should be. This time they had decided to leave a row of bright lights on at the back of the arena. This lessened the effect of the show!

Anyway, the show. The first thing I noticed was the new effect for Richard Burton. Before, his 2D image was displayed on a giant screen to the left of the stage. This was fantastic when I first saw it. They still has his head in the same place, but it is now projected onto a semi circle of plastic drapes. This gives it a 3D effect and looked awesome. The image itself looks more realistic. Whether this was due to the effect or if they'd actually touched up the computer image, I don't know.

Then a negative. The music was being played slightly differently. I remember thinking that the orchestra may have been miming to the album recording when I first saw this. I realised they weren't and was in awe at how well they played. Now there were distinct differences in instrument sound and even in some of the notes. One of the four keyboards seemed to not be plugged in at one point. Either that, or the volume had been turned right down!! Towards the end, a piano started to do a "plinky plonky" stlye play over the music that I know for a fact isn't on the album. It didn't sound wrong or out of place. It was just unexpected. I'm guessing that they have lost some of the original orchestra and have some new players in and that maybe Jeff Wayne has given some of the established musicians abit of freedom to "jazz" parts up a bit....maybe!!

Now for the cast!!

When Justin Hayward (from The Moody Blues) first came out, I noticed that he wasn't looking too well. I think he may have been either coming down with, or just recovering from some illness. His voice, although not bad, wasn't as smooth as before. He hit the notes, but was very wavery on extended notes and sounded more strained than before. Still thoroughly enjoyable though!

The parson Nataniel was played by John Payne (the bass player for Asia) when I first saw it. He had been replaced by Australian rockstar (or so I hear) Shannon Noll. Shannon sang his parts well enough, but not as well as John Payne. Also, he couldn't be understood when he did the non-singing parts. His articulation was dreadful. Luckily, I knew the words by heart

The parson wife, Beth was originally played by Sinead Quinn (When I say originally, I mean when I first saw it). Beth was now played by Jennifer Ellison of Brookside Close fame. She left the soap to follow a pop career.....I was worried. Especially when her first two words were delivered. The character cries "Nathaniel....Nathaniel...." Now I like the liverpudlian accent. But I didn't want it now. Thats what we got and I stirred uncomfortably in my seat as she cried "Nathanyul" with the liverpudlian emphasis on the "Y" that isn't there. I groaned and whispered something to my Mum about it. However, that was the only negative to be said. Every line she said, every line she sang afterwards,was amazing. I didn't realise how powerful her voice was. Good set of lungs on her..... ahem!!

Overall, a great show. A couple effects were missing. The red laser firing out into the crowd to represent the heat ray had been replaced with a smoke effect. Sorry, the laser was better. Pyrotechnics had been added to great effect. The giant screen at the back of the stage had loads of new images that were fantastic. I can highly recommend it, even if it didn't quite meet up to the show of 2 years ago.

[Meds]

a horror of my childhood, my parents used to play this record in the 70's which was horrid (now of course i appreciate it. I've got the DVD of the stage version and it is awesome. Richard Burton, pure class.

[Rico]

This is a really cool album.  I have it on a two-CD set.  Love it!

[ori-STUDFARM]

If the live show ever makes it over the pond, it is AWESOME!!! The animated young Richard Burton is breathtaking. As are all the visuals to be honest.

I actually listened to the Orson Welles version for the first time a couple of months back. Now that really impressed me too. Although Wayne's will always be my number 1 choice!