Roy Orbison tribute ‘has got it’ at Theatre Severn
Friday 24th June 2011, 8:06AM BST.
Barry Steele, RoyOrbison Tribute
Theatre Severn
review by Owen Lewis
When it comes to tribute nights, especially when they are as brilliant as the one performed by Barry Steele as Roy Orbison, at Theatre Severn, there’s elephant in the room.
It gets ignored and people have fun. But the moralistic question it raises is this; is it a parasitic art form?
Admittedly the man was brilliant, as were his band, The Complete Beatles, likewise Mike King’s Billy Fury. But would they be on that stage had not their real alter ego’s been successful. No of course not.
There are a million great singers an musicians, it has to be argued they were there on the back of someone’s else’s skill. However the audience went wild. No one minded it wasn’t the Big O, what did bother them was the show had to come to an end.
There wasn’t a disappointed face in the house. They sang, they clapped along and gave the ballads the emotional respond they needed. With one’s eyes closed Orbison was indeed in the room, only he wasn’t. Instead there was the commercial face of the music business.
They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery but when it comes to doing the man’s whole act the question arises, is this flattery or robbery?
So much for the psychology of the phenomenon: Steele provided a superbly entertaining evening. From the ovation it was clear to see that even if “He drove all night,” to be there; it was worth it.
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I’m really glad you enjoyed the show, we have worked so hard at making Roy Orbison and friends an authentic, respectful and accurate tribute to the Big O. Unfortunately Roy is no longer with us, but his fans ,family and us feel his legacy is just to special to be allowed to die. You raise the question about our type of show being parasitic, I have to say I find the analogy somewhat insulting. We are just bringing the music of the master back to the stage where we truly believe it belongs, we are respectful to the man, we pay the estate royalties, and are we are authorised by Roys widow to sell his merchandise. Barry has also met his son Wesley, and sang with the co writer of Oh pretty Woman. There were hundreds of patrons in the theatre last night who chose to see our show, they enjoyed a few hours of pure nostalgia and escapism from the trials and tribulations of life today. I’m afraid I can see nothing parasitic in that.
Regards Lynne Steele producer of Roy Orbison and friends
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