Max Rawlinson reviews the first UK touring production of Harry Hill & Steve Brown’s hilarious new musical comedy, running from 3- 8 July at Theatre Royal Bath.

When I took a trip to the Theatre Royal for the opening night of Harry Hill and local Bath resident Steve Brown’s new musical comedy Tony! The Tony Blair Rock Opera, I didn’t quite know what I was in for. However, all soon became clear as the show roared into life with the opening number as unexpectedly as the man himself appeared on the British political scene, surprising everyone present and winning much mirth as the ensemble recounts Blair’s early life through song.

Image: Jack Whittle as Tony Blair in TONY! (The Tony Blair Rock Opera), credit Mark Senior 

This sets the tone for the rest of the musical, in which each of Steve Brown’s fabulous (and irresistibly catchy) musical numbers harmonising perfectly with Harry Hill’s sharply written script to create a merciless satire of Britain’s former Labour Prime Minister’s life and career, in addition to his colleagues, friends, family members and enemies – as Director Peter Rowe says in the show programme, ‘nothing is sacred, and nobody is safe.’

Each member of the cast and ensemble does a stellar job of landing the script’s hits on its many targets. Jack Whittle’s Blair wears the trademark rictus grin throughout every one of his scenes as he goes from being a long-haired hippy and would-be popstar who idolises his hero 'Mick Jaggers' to a multimillionaire wartime leader, while effortlessly moving from an impressive imitation of the real Blair’s clipped public speaking voice to wide-eyed childishness when alone with his colleagues.

Image: Rosie Strobel as John Prescott and Jack Whittle as Tony Blair with Phil Sealy as Gordon Brown in TONY! (The Tony Blair Rock Opera), credit Mark Senior 

Phil Sealey’s Gordon Brown and Tori Burgess’ Cherie Blair provide the perfect comic foils to Whittle’s Blair. The former’s less-than-friendly feelings towards his boss manifest in his constant accusations that Tony has stolen various things from him, including the ‘top bunk’ at their university halls in Oxford, and peaks in a rage which sees him transform into the Incredible Hulk. Burgess’ Cherie, meanwhile, takes the form of a Scouse-accented Lady Macbeth figure, causing particular hilarity during the scene in which she first meets the clueless Tony.

Image: Tori Burgess as Cherie Blair and Jack Whittle as Tony Blair in TONY! (The Tony Blair Rock Opera), credit Mark Senior

However, it is Howard Samuels who steals the show with his priceless portrayals of Peter Mandelson, Alastair Campbell and Dick Cheney. Samuels has the whole theatre in fits of laughter with his excellent comic timing during a scene set in the immediate aftermath of Lady Diana’s death, in which Mandelson illustrates how Blair must ‘shape the grief’ by fashioning a balloon animal in live time. His portrayals of Dick Cheney as George W. Bush’s crazed war-hungry puppeteer, and Alastair Campbell as Blair’s bagpipe-playing truth manipulator at different points throughout the show are equally hilarious to behold.

Whether you’re familiar with Blair’s story or not, this show is a true comedic treat, which brings a large dose of song, dance and laughter to the often dark reality of modern politics. I won’t give too much away, but you’re sure to be humming the musical’s closing number to yourself long after the curtain has fallen!  

Tony! The Tony Blair Rock Opera will be at Theatre Royal Bath until Saturday 8 July. Book tickets here.