“Press it! Press it! Press it! Press it!” The audience chants, the noise and excitement levels rise, the basketball champion on stage looks decidedly nervous. My nine-year-old son is now sitting literally on the edge of his seat, eyes wide, a massive grin on his face as he claps in time with the beat and yells “Press it!”.
Thankfully, the big digital button gets pressed, and out rolls basketball number five. Jun Hasegawa from Japan tries to pick up and carry all five balls, with amusing results. Can he bounce them simultaneously? Of course, he’s a professional, he can do that, and a dizzying array of other impressive basketball tricks.
This is 360 ALLSTARS, the brainchild of Onyx Productions from Australia. We’re watching the final night of a six-day run at the Peacock Theatre in early June. The theatre is packed out. The audience clearly got the memo about this being a high-energy show as there’s screaming and whooping before it even begins.
The “all stars” part of the title relates to seven brilliantly talented performers. We have Hasegawa, the basketball freestyler. Gene Peterson, the drummer and also producer and director. Josh Curtis, the acrobat, Peter Sore, the BMX rider, and two breakdancers Peter Sette and Jared Graham showcasing their backflips and street dance. Bringing it all together we have the fabulous Mirrah Fay-Parker, our MC & vocalist. It’s an international cast, hailing from Hungary, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and the UK.
This is our first time back to Sadlers Wells’ Peacock Theatre since we watched The Snowman last November. That Christmas classic captivated us and got us in the festive mood on a wintery afternoon, but this performance takes us up a notch and, excitedly for my son, feels a lot more “grown-up”.
This is urban circus with all the hip hop, beatboxing, rapping, basketball, gymnastics and street dance you can imagine, stuffed into an hour and five minutes on a Saturday night (note: we’ll definitely be home past his bedtime).
The main draw was the basketball, as it’s my son’s favourite sport. I should mention that the “360” in the title refers to rotation. Our stars – who are a mix of World Champion and World Record holding artists and athletes – explore all forms of circular motion, whether it be the spin of a basketball or the twist of a body on stage.
We see beautiful artistic expression in a spinning cyr wheel, speedy twists and turns from a BMX, and a dizzying number of breakdancing moves. The supercharged show has us all open-mouthed as we wonder “how on earth did they do that?”.
Peterson wows us with an epic drum solo. He’s like an octopus, with all the furious, fast-paced hitting, drumming and bashing and even some tinkling on the keyboard next to his drums. All simultaneously, and apparently with just two arms. Amazing.
Peterson and Fay-Parker are our hosts for the evening, with live vocals and beatboxing, and the odd comedic touch. Their soundtrack supercharges the theatre with a funky energy, and drives the action forward while highlighting the extraordinary artists and athletes.
We see each of the stars in turn wowing us with their tricks and feats. For example, the two breakdancers engage in a battle sequence, cleverly framed through the lens of a fighting video game. Its playful nostalgia is a hit with all ages in the audience (I reckon there’s a few six-year-olds here, as well as some over 70s).
Just when we think we’ve seen it all, we discover the performers are multi-talented. The BMX rider can also spin in the cyr wheel. Hasegawa throws the basketball around with Curtis. And the breakdancers get their own much-smaller cyr wheels and crouch and twirl in those too.
360 ALLSTARS reminds me of a slimmed-down Cirque de Soleil, but with a focus on gritty street culture. It’s raw, powerful and thrilling. I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for when Peterson and his crew are back in London. Maybe we’ll see a sixth basketball thrown in next time?
Find out what other shows Sadlers Wells has coming up this year by visiting www.sadlerswells.com, or call the ticket office on 020 7863 8000.
Images by Cam Campbell, Matt Loncar & Darren Thomas
