What a stunning and amazing show!
Pete Townsend’s Quadrophenia – A Mod Ballet, now at Sadlers Wells in Islington, is a mix of modern dance, ballet, and songs set to the backdrop of the rock group The Who and their multi-million selling album Quadrophenia.
It’s billed as a ‘Mod Ballet’ but it’s so much more than that.
Once the first half starts you are immediately enthralled with the production. The amazing dancers, along with the stunning stage imagery and video projections, and the cleverly designed minimalist set (including the New Piccadilly Restaurant), draws you into a story about working class young man Jimmy (Paris Fitzpatrick), a young Mod in 1960’s London, who tries to find his place in a city which is full of clashing cultures – some good and some very bad – and includes the Rockers – led by the dashing Ace Face (Curtis Angus) . This eruptive and fiery production will hopefully introduce new and younger audiences to the music of The Who and the relevance and importance of their music and how it has impacted culture then and still does so now.
Pete Townsend of the Who wrote this, while his wife Rachel Fuller is the Orchestrator and Music Director. Amazing choreography by Paul Robert while Director Rob Ashford (a Tony, Olivier and Emmy Award Winner) puts everything in motion to great effect, taking your breath away at times.
You don’t have much time to catch this production, it ends on July 13th.