Craige Els plays Bob Geldof in the Live Aid musical Just For One Day at the Old Vic, in London, U.K.HO/The Canadian Press
A new jukebox musical about the making of the Live Aid benefit concerts in 1985 will make its North American premiere at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre in Toronto. Just For One Day, which opened at the Old Vic in London earlier this year, will have a limited run here of just 49 days, Jan. 28 to March 16, 2025.
The play, which takes its name from an iconic lyric in the David Bowie song Heroes, will cross the Atlantic in Live Aid’s 40th anniversary year.
“Live Aid was not a West End musical,” Bob Geldof said in a video interview with The Globe and Mail from his home in France. “Live Aid was turn-the-volume-up rock ‘n’ roll. People watching Just For One Day, from the first chords, will get that lift.”
Geldof and Midge Ure organized the original concerts in benefit of Ethiopian famine relief. Star-studded performances were held simultaneously in London’s Wembley Stadium and Philadelphia’s John F. Kennedy Stadium (and broadcast internationally) on July 13, 1985. The musical documents the story and features the songs of some of the artists who performed, such as Bowie, Bob Dylan, Madonna, the Who, U2, Queen, the Police, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Diana Ross and Canadian rocker Bryan Adams.
According to the producers, 10 per cent of all ticket sales from the show’s Toronto engagement will be donated to the Band Aid Charitable Trust, which was founded in 1984 and has raised more than $265-million to support organizations dedicated to the prevention or relief of poverty and famine through charitable grants.
“For me, one, the play will help focus attention on the issue, and, two, the money is useful,” Geldof said. “But there are more people watching Live Aid on YouTube today than ever watched it before. We get money from that and other things.”
Upon its world premiere in London on Feb. 13, Just For One Day generally received reviews that raved about the music but panned the book. Los Angeles-based Variety magazine called it a “boisterously played but problematic musical.”
The London-based Guardian gave two stars out of five while criticizing “white saviour stereotypes” and “pancake-flat characters.”
“That white saviour stuff is nonsense, so middle class,” Geldof said in response. “Be a Black saviour, be a white saviour, be a green saviour – it doesn’t matter.”
The Independent awarded the “bumptious” show three stars out of five, saying it was “all about pure, simple nostalgia, potent as the blend of self-righteousness and backstage cocaine,” with a tone of self-congratulation when it came to Geldof’s legacy.
“It has nothing to do with me,” said the Irish singer-songwriter, who is a character in the play. “I didn’t write it.”
The musical was written by British author John O’Farrell (who co-wrote Broadway hits Mrs. Doubtfire and Something Rotten!) and is directed by Luke Sheppard (& Juliet, In Dreams).
Just For One Day will join the 2024/25 Mirvish main subscription lineup, replacing Mamma Mia! in the seven-show season. (The touring production of Mamma Mia! will still play a five-week run this fall at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre, but not be part of the subscription.)
Geldof said that while he did suggest songs to include, his ideas mostly weren’t used. “I was wrong much of the time. The musical just works – it’s spectacular.”
The Boomtown Rats’ leader took in the musical’s opening night performance with Pete Townshend of the Who. One of the tunes is Townshend’s My Generation, an anthem of youthful angst from 1965.
“I thought, what are you going to do with My Generation, one of the greatest rock songs ever written?” Geldof said. “But it’s been reimagined, and it’s just as powerful, still with the contemptuous insolence at the heart of the song. Pete liked it so much I think he was considering rerecording it.”
According to Geldof, about 300 hits were performed during the all-day Live Aid concerts. Among the classics that made the cut for Just For One Day are I’m Still Standing, Let it Be, Heroes, Message in a Bottle and Blowin’ in the Wind.
“If a kid goes to see this because they like the tunes or because their parents dragged them along, I hope they remember it and leave thinking that the world is not immutable and that change is desirable,” Geldof said. “And that, with a bit of luck, you can steer that change in a desired direction.”
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Brad Wheeler