Review: The Commitments cast put their heart and soul into a memorable show at Milton Keynes Theatre

And I certainly wasn’t disappointed as the cast belted out numerous hits (River Deep, Mountain High; Papa Was A Rolling Stone; Mustang Sally; Knock On Wood; Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours; and many many others) to get the audience clapping along, up on their feet and wanting more during Monday’s opening night.

The Commitments musical has been adapted from the novel by Booker prize-winning author Roddy Doyle. It tells the story of Jimmy Rabbitte, a young working-class music fan, who transforms an unlikely bunch of amateur musicians into an superb live act – albeit one that looks like it can implode at any second due to the many personality clashes within the group.

Placing a classified advert in a music paper, Jimmy (James Killeen) auditions a number of wannabes before finalising the members of his new band, which he names ‘The Commitments’. The audition process is farcical as the wannabe singers turn up at his parents’ house eager to impress. It’s here we meet ‘Da’ (Corrie’s Nigel Pivaro) who is excellent as Jimmy’s grumpy father who isn’t always too appreciative of his son’s musical taste.

Eventually Jimmy settles on a line-up which features lead singer Deco (Ian McIntosh) who made a good impression on him after he sung drunkenly at a party.

The band really are a bunch of misfits which Jimmy struggles to keep in check. Deco is introduced to fellow members as he’s picking his nose, then ageing musician Joey The Lips (Stuart Reid) gets a “it’s my grandad back from the dead” welcome.

They muddle through early rehearsals testing each others’ patience, including Deco storming out after being unimpressed by perceived limitations of the sax player… “Have we broken up already?” is the hilarious reaction of one of the group.

In fact the entire production is littered with witty moments in between the brilliant music led by Ian McIntosh’s Deco, but with great support from backing singers Natalie (Eve Kitchingman), Imelda (Ciara Mackey) and Bernie (Sarah Gardiner).

The infighting continues – a lot of it connected to Joey hooking up with the female singers, but at least he buys them all some chips to keep them onside as they practice, which leads in a hilarious rendition of I Heard It Through The Grapevine while Deco is stuffing his face full of chips!

Another brilliant character introduced midway through the first act is the shaven headed Mickah (Ronnie Yorke), initially taken on by Jimmy as a bouncer who is mightily scary and wants to have a fight with anyone who so much as looks at him, but has a hidden talent so can fill an important role after a band member quits.

The Commitments are billed as the hardest working band in the world, but they’re definitely the hardest work possible for Jimmy – and James Killen pulls off the beleagured band manager superbly.

The rousing finale topped off a memorable night, so I’m glad I made the commitment to see the show.

Performances run until Saturday, October 29. Call the box office on 0844 871 7615 or see ATGTICKETS.COM/MiltonKeynes