Sing Street at Lyric Hammersmith

Sing Street came into my consciousness back in May, when we received a request from the Lyric team about setting up some tracking pixels for their upcoming advertising campaigns. I didn’t know it was based on a film and in the process of setting up their tracking pixels I hadn’t even clocked it was a musical! But I was drawn to the 80’s vibe – the striking red of the lead image and all that double-denim. I’d spotted ads on the underground at Euston, and the ad campaigns were doing their magic with it popping up in my Instagram feed. So when Cog’s Studio Manager, Lily, suggested this as an option for our August Cog Night, it was an easy ‘yes’ from me.

As the date neared, so did talk of the show among the team. Heidi was a fan of the film, Michael and Aoife had already attended the star-studded press night and I even had a little browse through the songs from the film and from the original broadway cast recording. I listened with interest to all the chatter, but ultimately, I wanted to go in and make my own mind up.

On that hot sunny Monday evening, we made the long 1hr+ journey from the Cog Studio in Greenwich to Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. It’s always a treat for me to visit a theatre I haven’t been to before, and especially so when it’s a theatre I’ve worked closely with. We spotted the “Lyric” sign on their building as soon as we exited Hammersmith station and had plenty of time to pose for photos outside the venue.

It was a busy buzzy evening in the theatre and we had many stairs to climb to reach our seats in the Upper Circle. A soundtrack of 80’s music got us in the mood whilst we waited for the show to start. The music faded, the lights dimmed and a voiceover announcer told us the show was about to start and said all the musical instruments on stage were played live by the cast.

The small prop house we could see opened up, projections and TV sets on wheels filled the stage and the show began with a tribute to the TV show Top of the Pops. That’s it – they had my attention!

The premise for the show is set immediately – it’s Dublin, in the 1980s, and times are tough for our lead Connor. Financial troubles mean his parents can no longer afford his private school fees and so he sent off to the local Catholic school instead where he doesn’t quite fit in. A chance encounter with an attractive girl, a model named Raphina, and the fib he tells her about being in a band and the music video they want her to star in, lead him to actually starting a band with his new schoolmates.

And so we follow the journey of this new band, learning more about Connor’s siblings and his parents, his challenges at school, his bandmates and of course the budding romance with the beautiful model Raphina.

I really enjoyed the 80’s new wave songs and seeing the cast in action creating this soundscape playing so many instruments. I was bopping along in my seat, admiring the costume and styling (and laughing to myself at the memories of when I had a fringe like Connor’s sister Anne). The scene changes were enjoyable to watch – props on wheels zooming across the stage and some rather fun choreography inside and outside a phone box! The story was easy to follow and pretty predictable in a good way.

However there was lots of strands that left me wondering “are they just going to include that so briefly and then move on?”. It’s very clearly Connor’s story but the things we learn about the other characters felt too brief in their execution. Things like [Spoiler Alert incoming]…

Raphina’s sexual abuse as a child and subsequent relationship with a much older man
Brendan’s mental health
Robert’s alcoholism
Penny’s affair
The pressure placed on Anne as the golden child
Eamon’s abusive father

I will say perhaps I picked up on these things more because of the type of harder-hitting theatre, TV shows and films I usually consume that delve into these things in more detail with sensitivity and understanding. And perhaps I would have connected more to how they were expressed on stage if I was sat much closer to the stage and able to pick up on the finer details.

My overall view was that it was a fun and enjoyable show with a hugely talented cast and some catchy songs. I came into the studio the next day and put the soundtrack on for us all to enjoy. The show also inspired a fun idea from Justin about starting a studio band. We do have some talented musicians in the Cog team…sadly I’m not one of them, but maybe I can be the model/muse.