Review: Total Eclipse - A Symphonic Celebration of Jim Steinman (London Coliseum)

Review by Daz Gale

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Next year will mark ten years since the world got its first taste of Bat Out Of Hell, a musical featuring the songs of Jim Steinman that had been a long time coming, with the initial idea in the works before Meat Loaf had even released the 1977 album of the same name. After an initial run in Manchester, London Coliseum hosted the first of several London runs for Bat Out Of Hell, too, so it felt fitting that a celebration of Steinman’s iconic songbook took place on that same stage. Would Total Eclipse be a much-needed light in the dark, or would it suffer the same fate several other concerts have and, every now and then, fall apart?

Jim Steinman’s songs are notoriously grand, and so the looming London Coliseum stage once again proved a natural fit for these timeless numbers, elevated to new heights with the presence of the ENO Orchestra conducted by Jack Bennett and backing vocals by Capital Voices. From the opening moments, this was a loud and proud symphonic celebration of all things Jim Steinman, with an interestingly curated setlist mixing in some of his classic songs with some lesser-known offerings. Anyone worried any of Steinman’s famously lengthy numbers would be cut short needn’t have worried - each and every number was present in its full glory, some longer than ten minutes but never outstaying its welcome - such is the nature of Steinman’s genius. Though, of course, that did mean the 17-odd songs that were played came in for a show at just under three hours.

If Jim Steinman’s name alone wasn’t enough of a draw for the legions of fans of his life’s work and legacy, the guest vocalists that had been assembled for Total Eclipse more than did that. Red delivered an outstanding rendition of ‘Holding Out For A Hero’ on one of the vocal highlights of the night (of which there were many given the calibre of all involved), Zoe Birkett and Robbie Waugh performed a rousing ‘Dead Ringer For Love’ and Grant Zavitkovsky blew me away with the beautiful tone of his voice in ‘Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad’ and again with his backing vocals on the climactic number (more on that shortly), turning me around into an instant fan.

A couple of the performers had connections to Steinman, with producer Tyce Green having his album ‘HERO’ produced by him. Green treated us to some of the more iconic numbers in Steinman’s catalogue, including ‘Bat Out Of Hell’, teaming up with Natalie May Paris and Christina Bianco for sensational duets of ‘Good Girls Go To Heaven’ and ‘It’s All Coming Back To Me Now’ respectively. Another artist with a Steinman connection was Karine Hannah, who Steinman described as “the best voice I’ve worked with since Celine Dion”. It isn’t hard to see why, with her incredible tone ending the night on a high with ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’.

Bat Out of Hell: The Musical introduced a whole new audience to Steinman’s music, myself included. I can vividly remember sitting in the Coliseum in 2017, knowing no more than three songs in the show on my first visit. Many visits and listens at home later, I could safely sing every lyric to every song in that show. Two Bat alumni were present, much to the delight of many BatFam members of the audience, lovingly wearing t-shirts from the show. It may have been disappointing that they didn’t sing the numbers they made their own in the musical, particularly when it comes to Danielle Steers, whose version of ‘Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad’ is perhaps as equally defining for a new era as Meat Loaf’s original version is. However, Steers has such a magnificent voice and magnetic personality that she can sing anything, and her deep cut choices of ‘Catwoman’s Song’ from Steinman’s unreleased Batman musical (he had a thing about Bats, clearly) and ‘Ravishing’ undoubted highlights of the night.

Several of the show’s highlights belonged to Glenn Adamson, who has just finished leading Bat Out Of Hell as Strat for multiple years and has built up a loyal and loving fanbase in the process. His song choices were a bit unexpected on the night, kicking off the show with ‘Bad For Good’ and delivering what was the single greatest moment of the night for me with a note-perfect and immensely fun ‘Paradise By The Dashboard Light’ with Natalie May Paris. His ‘Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through’ was the most beautiful moment, however, with his inspired choice to get the audience involved, waving their lights in a much-needed and underutilised bit of audience interaction. After the lengthy intro to ‘I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)’ had audience members guessing who would be coming on stage to sing that iconic number, there were audible cheers of “YES” as Adamson returned to the stage to bring his stunning vocals to that classic number. As if it couldn’t get any better, he was joined by Zoe Birkett for the show’s climax, birthing a new double act I want to see more of - both of their vocals were at their best together, with their personalities filling the large stage and ensuring the audience were having as much fun as they were.

As great a concert as this was, I did have one criticism, and I wouldn’t call this a minor one. It seemed as if this show would do anything to celebrate the legacy of Jim Steinman… apart from talk about him. They won’t do that. This was a massive mistake, especially given the connections many of the cast members had with him. Hell, even the significance of the venue wasn’t mentioned, given the fact that Steinman had been in that very room when Bat Out Of Hell opened. This was especially disappointing as the Coliseum was bursting with thousands of fans longing to hold up a light (which they only managed to do due to Glenn Adamson’s moment) to Jim Steinman, and neither his name nor image graced the stage.

It became unclear why we were all there, which would have been easily remedied if cast members had been able to share stories about the songs they were singing, their memories with him, and why his music lives on to be as special as it is to this day. Given some of the more obscure offerings in the setlist, some context may have helped and avoided the mutterings of “What is this song?”. This is the second concert this year that has opted to do music all the way through without any talking whatsoever, and I would urge producers to never underestimate the importance of this. Total Eclipse was a great concert regardless, but the absence of speech made it all feel a bit hollow, while a few simple words would have aided the connection and assuredly led to a more emotive response.

There were also some notable omissions on the night, which are perhaps unavoidable given the large catalogue of songs Steinman gifted the world, though ‘Heaven Can Wait’ felt like a particularly huge gap in the show. I would also suggest that maybe the songs weren’t always in the right order, with both Acts ending on an ambiguous note. While ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’ made sense as a finale due to the title of the show, it felt as though a group number would have been better to see everyone off. The fact that was preceded by six cast members performing ‘Braver Than We Are’ made Karine Hannah’s solo finale feel smaller than it should have done, and even flipping those two numbers around could have made all the difference.

Where these concerts have a habit of being plagued with problems, Total Eclipse came off largely unscathed, though there were a couple of hairy moments where sound mixing meant a couple of vocalists were quieter than necessary on duets and group numbers. There was a spectacular use of lighting from Jack Weir, bringing the sense of grandeur you would find at a rock concert with stunning effect, while Christopher D. Clegg’s direction tied everything together beautifully.

Essentially, the talent and incredible vocals should have been enough to make Total Eclipse a five-star affair, but it was let down somewhat by the coldness and lack of communication. There is a reason why Jim Steinman’s songs still connect with an audience 50 years after some were written, and it was a shame this wasn’t taken advantage of in a theatre where thousands had gathered to celebrate his legacy. Despite that, Total Eclipse still proved to be a fantastic night of music that not only paid tribute to Jim Steinman’s legendary songbook but also celebrated the incredible performers we are lucky enough to have in the West End, as well as some talents that were new to me, but have certainly made me a fan. Where the Bat Out Of Hell album got two sequels, and the musical has had more lives than a cat, don’t be surprised if Total Eclipse follows suit and pops up again in the future. Though it may have been lacking in speech, it made up for it with great songs and amazing vocals - and as we all know, two out of three ain't bad.

Setlist:

Overture (ENO Orchestra)

Bad For Good (Glenn Adamson)

Good Girls Go To Heaven (Tyce Green & Natalie May Paris)

Safe Sex (Karine Hannah)

Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young (ENO Orchestra)

Dead Ringer For Love (Zoe Birkett & Robbie Waugh)

Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through (Glenn Adamson)

Catwoman’s Song (Danielle Steers)

Making Love Out Of Nothing At All (Tyce Green)

Holding Out For A Hero (Red)

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Entr’Acte (ENO Orchestra)

Bat Out Of Hell (Tyce Green)

Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad (Grant Zavitkovsky)

Paradise By The Dashboard Light (Glenn Adamson & Natalie May Paris)

Ravishing (Danielle Steers)

Pray Lewd (ENO Orchestra)

It’s All Coming Back To Me Now (Tyce Green & Christina Bianco)

I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That) (Glenn Adamson & Zoe Birkett)

Braver Than We Are (Glenn, Zoe, Grant, Natalie, Danielle & Tyce)

Total Eclipse Of The Heart (Karine Hannah)

Total Eclipse played at the London Coliseum on May 3rd.

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Photos by Danny Kaan