In-house review by Nicola Stanhope

Nicola is a Blues Brothers devotee as well as being Chairman of the Friends of the Tower and the theatre's Business Manager.

Welcomed by the larger than life figures of Jake and Elwood Blues, clutching the bars of the main gates, I realised that I was not in for a typical evening at the Tower. With a police car on the roof and the foyer roped off by a police line, I wondered if there would be a show at all!
The Tribute to The Blues Brothers had its genesis as a 45-minute set during the end-of-season party last summer. On that occasion, they set the joint jumpin' with members old and young quite literally dancing in the aisles.
More than a concert, the show recreated the atmosphere of the cult film. The songs were interspersed with snippets of dialogue and the characters of the brothers and their motley collection of soul mates emerged. This was helped by the foyer exhibition which combined photographs and images from the characters' pasts with biographical information which left little of their chequered past to the imagination. The heart-rending story of the three baby sisters separated at birth who grew up to become The Beavers was particularly poignant.
As in the film, there was some doubt whether the brothers would actually appear on stage. After the neurotic ramblings of the (specially adapted) pre-show announcement, the band came on stage to clear the police tape and Curtis, the boys' mentor, fresh from his triumph as Janitor of the Year, hailed their arrival.
And hailed and hailed! Racing in from the back with, one could easily imagine, the flower of the Illinois State law enforcement agency in hot pursuit, Jake and Elwood finally took to the stage. From then on each number followed hot on the heels of the last - with the energetic, if far from stylish, choreography on the part of the boys contrasting with the precision and elegance of the girls' backing act.
Martin South as Elwood and Roger Beaumont as his older brother Jake were perfectly matched, both physically and vocally. The punishingly relentless pace started to take its toll on vocal cords by the end of the show but the energy never wavered once and the reprise of Everybody Needs Somebody in the second encore was delivered with as much punch as it was at the start of the show. A delightful contrast in pace and style was provided by slower numbers such as Try A Little Tenderness with which Elwood closed the first act and the duet Bring It On Home To Me in the second.
The Beavers proved that they were more than just a backing trio. Gail Willis delivered a forceful blast to the cowering brothers in her excellent rendition of the Aretha Franklin classic Think. Helen Dudley seduced not just the men on stage but most of those in the audience when she purred out I Just Want To Make Love To You and Nikki Smith's warm mezzo voice was ideally suited to Nowhere to Run.
Peta Barker's Curtis demonstrated frightening versatility on an alarming array of percussion and real blues style on the harmonica. The high spot however was, as in the summer, his faultless tribute to Cab Calloway, tying the audience into vocal knots during Minnie the Moocher.
The Blues Brothers Band provided spirited backing but were also allowed their own moments centre stage with instrumental numbers such as Green Onions. The show's producer Phillip Ley was on stage with bass guitar. Colin Guthrie on keyboards and Arthur Garrison on drums had also been responsible for much of the musical direction and were well served by the horn section of Nathan Griffiths, Howard Hutt and Luca Burrows and by Paul Say on lead guitar. Stephen Ley in control of sound (and there was a lot of it!) ensured that the music and vocals stayed in balance while raising the roof.
Stage managers Sarah Ambrose and Lesley Scarth did all that could be asked of them, namely to ensure that the band were rounded up from the bar and on stage sometimes with seconds to spare.
And as in the summer, enthusiastic members of the audience leapt to their feet to Shake a Tail Feather and to jive to Jailhouse Rock. With three sell-out shows behind them, The Return of The Blues Brothers cannot be far away.