# The Commitments (musical)

The Commitments is a jukebox musical written by Roddy Doyle, based on the 1987 novel of the same name, also written by Doyle. Like the novel (and its 1991 film adaptation), the musical is about a group of unemployed Irish youths who start a soul music band. It premiered in 2013 at the Palace Theatre in London's West End.
The music within the musical consists of soul and rock & roll classics from the 1950s and 60s, including "Think", "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" and "Night Train". The music is entirely diegetic, meaning that all the songs are performed by the band rather than being sung by characters to express an emotion. For that reason, Doyle has insisted that The Commitments is not a jukebox musical.

## Background

The musical is based on the 1987 novel, by Roddy Doyle. Following the 1991 film adaptation, Doyle said he received 20 different offers to turn the novel into a musical. He turned them all down because he had become resentful of the success of The Commitments, to the seeming exclusion of his other novels and because he was not a fan of musical theatre, having never seen a musical. He eventually changed his mind due to his children, who were fans of the 1991 film, and who took him to see musicals, including a production of the film-turned-musical The Producers, which he called "a revelation".
Officially confirmed on 19 April 2013, in Ireland, producers announced that the show would play the Palace Theatre, with tickets going on sale everywhere on 23 April. Despite initially looking to hire another writer to write the book for the musical, Doyle ended up writing the show himself. The show was directed by Jamie Lloyd, with choreography by Ann Yee, set design by Soutra Gilmour, sound design by Rory Madden and lightning by Jon Clark.

## Production history
### West End (2013–2015)

The Commitments began previews on 21 September 2013, at the Palace Theatre, London, before holding its official opening night on 8 October. The cast consisted of Denis Grindel as Jimmy Rabbitte, Killian Donnelly as Deco, Ben Fox as Joey Fagan, Sean Kearns as Jimmy Rabbitte's father and Sarah O'Connor, Stephanie McKeon and Jessica Cervi played The Commitmentettes. A typical London performance ran 2hrs 25mins, including one interval of 15 mins. The show closed on 1 November 2015.

### UK and Ireland tour (2016–2017)

Another tour commenced in 2016. The production officially opened at Dublin's Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in October, and closed at the Bradford Alhambra Theatre on May 13, 2017. It featured a number of cast members from the West End production, including original cast members Brian Gilligan as Deco and Andrew Linnie as Jimmy. Kevin Kennedy, best known as Curly Watts from Coronation Street, joined the cast as Jimmy's Da. The production was directed by C Jay Ranger.

### UK and Ireland tour (2022–2023)

The show began a UK and Ireland tour opening at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley in September 2022, after previously being postponed from September 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The production is directed by Andrew Linnie who previously played Dean in the London production and Jimmy in the previous tour.

## Musical numbers

The musical features nineteen main songs with a further nineteen short sound bites of soul and motown numbers.

## Principal roles and cast members

| Character | Original London cast (2013) | UK and Ireland cast (2016) | UK and Ireland cast (2022) |
| Bernie | Jessica Cervi | Christina Tedders | Sarah Gardiner |
| Deco | Killian Donnelly | Brian Gilligan | Ian Mcintosh |
| Derek | Mark Dugdale | Peter Mooney | Guy Freeman |
| Joey Fagan | Ben Fox | Alex McMorran | Stuart Reed |
| Billy/Dave | Brian Gilligan | John Currivan | Ryan Kelly |
| Jimmy Rabbitte | Denis Grindel | Andrew Linnie | James Killeen |
| Dean | Andrew Linnie | Padraig Dooney | Conor Litten |
| Natalie | Stephanie McKeon | Amy Penston | Eve Kitchingman |
| Imelda | Sarah O'Connor | Leah Penston | Ciara Mackey |
| James | Barnaby Southgate | Rhys Whitfield | Stephen O’Ríain |
| Mickah | Joe Woolmer | Sam Fordham | Ronnie Yorke |
| Outspan | Matthew Wycliffe | Christian James | Michael Mahony |
| Sap | Padraig Dooney | Guy Freeman | Callum Martin |
| Auditionees | Christopher Fry, John McLarnon, Sharon Sexton, Alex Tomkins | | Alice Croft, Maryann Lynch, Ed Thorpe, James Deegan |
| Dodgy Man | Ryan Gibb | |
| Jimmy's Da | Sean Kearns | Kevin Kennedy | Nigel Pivaro |
| Sharon | Clodagh Long | |
| Ray | Ian McIntosh | Ben Morris |
| Alice | Riona O'Connor | |
| Hot Press | Thomas Snowdon | Joshua Barton | Colm Gleeson |
| Barman | Glenn Spears | Joshua Barton | Joshua Barton |
| Jimmy's Ma/Outspan's Ma | Julia Worsley | |
| Resident Choreographer | Natalie Hope | |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result | Ref |
| 2013 | Evening Standard Award | Best Night Out | Best Night Out | Nominated | |
| 2014 | Whatsonstage.com Awards | Best Actor in a Musical | Killian Donnelly | Nominated | |

## Critical reception

The West End production of The Commitments received mixed reviews from critics.