Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical (London) London Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (111)
See it if You’re a HUGE Bob Marley fan and are content with a superficial understanding of why he was such a national icon and international star.
Don't see it if You are unlikely to understand the strong Jamaican accents. I understood less than half the dialogue.
See it if Only if you like Bob Marley or have an interest in his life story
Don't see it if You’re expecting to fall in love with Bob Marley‘s music from seeing it Read more
See it if you adore Bob Marley's music
Don't see it if you are expecting a set, directing, a script or anything resembling a story being told,
See it if You like high energy performances
Don't see it if You don't like musicals
See it if you love a wild night out and love to learn new stuff about a true legend
Don't see it if you don't like reggae music
See it if You love the music of Bob Marley
Don't see it if You want something uplifting in the edge of your seat or innovative
See it if Amazing show, makes you get up on your feet and amazing to learn of the story
Don't see it if .
See it if the music of Bob Marley was excellent, well presented life story
Don't see it if difficult to understand the local dialect, ie Jamaican
Critic Reviews (9)
Bringing the story of Bob Marley to life with a natural feeling of authenticity whilst capturing the time period is no easy feat, yet Get Up Stand Up The Bob Marley Musical manages to do just that in a genuinely powerful way.
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‘Get Up, Stand Up!’ has wonderful tunes, a phenomenal star turn, and a weak story. For now, the first two points largely cancel out the third. But there is an awful lot resting on Arinzé Kene’s prodigious shoulders, and he’s not going to stay with the show forever.
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In the end, it’s the women who help to lift the show. Gabrielle Brooks gives us a stoic Rita who refuses to be shoved into the background, while Shanay Holmes impresses in the skeletal role of the singer’s beauty queen lover, Cindy Breakspeare.
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...no amount of advance prep can equal the modern-day force of nature that is Arinzé Kene. Not so much playing Bob as summoning his very being, this protean talent looks to be every bit as invaluable to the launch of this show as Adrienne Warren was to Tina.
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The magnetic Kene sings divinely, honouring Marley’s utterly distinctive sound. But, since we rarely get inside his head, those great songs don’t have much dramatic heft.
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Arinzé Kene ... gives a towering performance in the central role. Clint Dyer’s production sometimes struggles when it tries too hard to be a musical; it’s at its best when it lets the music speak for itself. The whole thing sounds fantastic ... it all brims with a sort of unbridled charm that makes you believe, just for a moment, that everything really is going to be all right.
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Lee Hall’s book does away with clunky exposition, taking us on a feverish journey through Marley’s musical awakening and rise to stardom. Admittedly this sometimes leaves the story feeling a bit vague, but we’re having too much fun to care.
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The book [is] minimal in its effects, with too-brief scenes incorporating Marley’s politics, consciousness-raising and Rastafarianism. We gain little sense of individual character. But there is a powerful sense of spirit here and it is a tribute so infectious that it defies an audience not to sing or sway along.
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