First in the interest of full disclosure, I'm a John Barrowman fan from his stints on Doctor Who as Captain Jack Harkness. That said, this BBC One series offers a really different side of Barrowman as a presenter, singer with great West End musical theatre roots, and as an actor with more than adequate comedic timing. And he's quite good at what I call the surprise ambush presentation of the dream opportunity.
Tonight's the Night was created by John Barrowman and his manager Gavin Barker as a successor to his "Dreamers" seminars a few years ago in the USA for those who aspire to be in the performing arts. The first season had six episodes and was aired on BBC One during April/May 2009. The second season has seven episodes which aired on Saturday nights on BBC One from 17 July - 28 August 2010.
Tonight's the Night in season 2 continues as a vehicle for deserving people to have their performance dreams realized. In many ways it's a modern update of the 1960s and 1970s variety show format like the old "Donny and Marie Variety Show" combined with the UK show "Jim'll Fix It". It's not a reality competition show like X-Factor, American Idol, or Dancing with the Stars. Rather, viewers have written in to the show nominating someone they know because of their ability to do good works and/or have a dream of performing on stage. The show is hosted by Barrowman who is a veteran presenter in the UK, and has over twenty years experience as a leading man in London's West End musical theatre scene.
{below be minor spoilers} . . . . . Season 2 is focused on the dream making/delivering than on general entertainment more so than in the first season. We see less Barrowman and more interaction of the dreamers and their situations. Some who are vocal critics of Barrowman and his so-called "Tigger in a bacofoil suit" personality may find that a good thing. The show format continues to emphasize Barrowman's singing abilities at the beginning of the show with him singing the now standard intro song "I Gotta A Feeling", then half way through he serenades a deserving member of the audience with an appropriate song depending on their situation; then the closing song is an all out pop song showcasing Barrowman's very nice baritone accompanied by his J8 dancers and an in house band which is quite good. Episode 6's final song "Fireflies" was sung by Barrowman better than the original hit, (in my opinion). Barrowman also sang a very good cover of "Don't Rain on My Parade" for the finale show ala Glee! style in a black sequined suit. The dancing and singing were superb. Barrowman also gets great satisfaction from setting up and executing the surprise ambush on the prospective dreamer.
The dreamers have included a young woman who works as a carer (day care worker) during the day, but is an amateur tap dancer, had raised money for charity, and helped out a dear friend during a difficult time. She is granted her wish of performing an avant garde tap dance routine ala the West End Show "Tap Dogs". She even gets a private lesson to create a dance routine from her hero, Adam Garcia.
In another episode a young man who is losing sight in one eye, and has high tone deafness loves to sing and act in local musical productions. TtN makes his dream of singing a song from "The Lion King" musical on stage come true. The most unusual dreamer was a 79 year old retiree who was in reality a daredevil who had parachuted for charity. He had a dream to wing walk on a stunt plane. Barrowman arranged it for him.
The only issue I have with TtN is that Barrowman's cheesy jokes and and often earthy sense of humor sometimes don't work as well as they should considering he has good writers. He has a talent though for disguises and unusual accents which he uses abundantly while executing his planned surprises. He had me laughing in stitches several times, especially his performance as Francis Strider, a very gay head flight attendant with a blond wig and buck teeth who was attempting to demonstrate flight safety equipment at the Glasgow Airport.
If you like light entertainment with a touch of making performance dreams come true for deserving folks, then you'll like this show. If you want to see people in competition in unusual circumstances,yelling at each other, or scheming and plotting to win, go find yourself one of those reality competition shows, because this show is not one of them.
Tonight's the Night was created by John Barrowman and his manager Gavin Barker as a successor to his "Dreamers" seminars a few years ago in the USA for those who aspire to be in the performing arts. The first season had six episodes and was aired on BBC One during April/May 2009. The second season has seven episodes which aired on Saturday nights on BBC One from 17 July - 28 August 2010.
Tonight's the Night in season 2 continues as a vehicle for deserving people to have their performance dreams realized. In many ways it's a modern update of the 1960s and 1970s variety show format like the old "Donny and Marie Variety Show" combined with the UK show "Jim'll Fix It". It's not a reality competition show like X-Factor, American Idol, or Dancing with the Stars. Rather, viewers have written in to the show nominating someone they know because of their ability to do good works and/or have a dream of performing on stage. The show is hosted by Barrowman who is a veteran presenter in the UK, and has over twenty years experience as a leading man in London's West End musical theatre scene.
{below be minor spoilers} . . . . . Season 2 is focused on the dream making/delivering than on general entertainment more so than in the first season. We see less Barrowman and more interaction of the dreamers and their situations. Some who are vocal critics of Barrowman and his so-called "Tigger in a bacofoil suit" personality may find that a good thing. The show format continues to emphasize Barrowman's singing abilities at the beginning of the show with him singing the now standard intro song "I Gotta A Feeling", then half way through he serenades a deserving member of the audience with an appropriate song depending on their situation; then the closing song is an all out pop song showcasing Barrowman's very nice baritone accompanied by his J8 dancers and an in house band which is quite good. Episode 6's final song "Fireflies" was sung by Barrowman better than the original hit, (in my opinion). Barrowman also sang a very good cover of "Don't Rain on My Parade" for the finale show ala Glee! style in a black sequined suit. The dancing and singing were superb. Barrowman also gets great satisfaction from setting up and executing the surprise ambush on the prospective dreamer.
The dreamers have included a young woman who works as a carer (day care worker) during the day, but is an amateur tap dancer, had raised money for charity, and helped out a dear friend during a difficult time. She is granted her wish of performing an avant garde tap dance routine ala the West End Show "Tap Dogs". She even gets a private lesson to create a dance routine from her hero, Adam Garcia.
In another episode a young man who is losing sight in one eye, and has high tone deafness loves to sing and act in local musical productions. TtN makes his dream of singing a song from "The Lion King" musical on stage come true. The most unusual dreamer was a 79 year old retiree who was in reality a daredevil who had parachuted for charity. He had a dream to wing walk on a stunt plane. Barrowman arranged it for him.
The only issue I have with TtN is that Barrowman's cheesy jokes and and often earthy sense of humor sometimes don't work as well as they should considering he has good writers. He has a talent though for disguises and unusual accents which he uses abundantly while executing his planned surprises. He had me laughing in stitches several times, especially his performance as Francis Strider, a very gay head flight attendant with a blond wig and buck teeth who was attempting to demonstrate flight safety equipment at the Glasgow Airport.
If you like light entertainment with a touch of making performance dreams come true for deserving folks, then you'll like this show. If you want to see people in competition in unusual circumstances,yelling at each other, or scheming and plotting to win, go find yourself one of those reality competition shows, because this show is not one of them.
