Rockin’ good show

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, Manchester Opera House

IT tells you something about the genius of the late, great Freddie Mercury when it takes six singers and six dancers to capture something of his flamboyance, stage presence and dazzling vocals.

And it tells you something about “Bohemian Rhapsody” that it manages to do so with aplomb.

This is not a tribute act trying to impersonate the charismatic Queen front-man and his equally brilliant bandmates’ and it’s neither a history of the group nor a musical linking their songs in some kind of story.

It’s simply a tribute to the music of the rock gods, led by Nathan James - a finalist in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s TV search for a Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar.

The band romps through its own - musically faithful - versions of Queen’s greatest hits, its musicians pretty outstanding (and who surely deserve more than a brief mention in the programme).

Power ballads, rock numbers, opera, acoustic, the show has them all. From a truly fantastic group performance of “Barcelona” to an emotional solo performance of “No One But You (Only the Good Die Young)” by Kelly Anne Gower.

Giovanni Spano’s “I want to Break Free” (in tiny hot pants and stockings) is a hit, while Ben Smith excels at the heavy rock numbers.

Initially it’s strange trying to work out if you are at a concert and should be singing and dancing along, or at a show, and you should sit back and watch respectfully.