The Roy Orbison Story

IT was Bruce Springsteen who once said that Roy Orbison's ballads were "always best when you were alone in the dark". Springsteen said this as part of his introduction to Roy Orbison's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in January 1987, an event which is portrayed in The Roy Orbison Story, albeit not very accurately. This and similar examples of the show's lack of authenticity, and a weak dramatic base, are the only major flaws in an otherwise brilliantly executed piece of nostalgia theatre.

The main thrust of the show, then, is not in the essentially graphical narrate between Orbison's Youngest son Wesley and erstwhile band member Lacey a device used to introduce flashback sequences but in the many songs dotted throughout the show. If we learn anything about Orbison it is through his magnificent material. Songs such as In Dreams, Only The Lonely, Blue Bayou, It's Over, Oh, Pretty Woman, Running Scared and Only The Lonely each tell an episode in his tragedy ridden life.

Thankfully, all Orbison's songs are performed with a vast amount of professionalism and verve by the cast, with Orbison sound alike Peter Howarth particularly good at reaching those all important falsetto notes. So, in general, this is a slick piece of popular theatre, invested with care for the material of one of the best pop songwriters of the past forty years.

The best fun night out in Dublin right now? You got it.