Review: JUST FOR ONE DAY - THE LIVE AID MUSICAL at CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre

"It's 12 noon in London, 7 am in Philadelphia, and around the world it's time for Live Aid!" On July 13, 1985, history was made with the first ever global concert taking place simultaneously in London's Wembley Stadium and Philadelphia's John F. Kennedy's Stadium. The line up was a dazzling who's who of music's top artists of the era from David Bowie, Paul McCartney, and Queen to Madonna, Phil Collins, and Led Zeppelin. Both venues were filled to capacity with screaming fans and for the rest of the world, the performances were broadcasted over satellite to televisions spanning the globe. Everywhere you turned, you were watching Live Aid.

Spearheaded by Bob Geldof of the Boomtown Rats and singer-songwriter-producer Midge Ure who were galvanized by the tragic footage of starving children with their bellies distended, too weak to brush the flies off their faces, the desperate results of the 1983-1985 famine in Ethiopia. Live Aid started as Band Aid, where Geldof and Ure decided the best way they could assist was through the medium they knew - music. Soon, the single "Do They Know It's Christmas" was released combining the voices of the biggest selling British and Irish artists of the time. But sales of the single alone was far from hitting the numbers required to make a dent in the growing famine. They needed to go bigger. Based on a suggestion by Culture Club's Boy George, Live Aid was formed. 

In Just for One Day - The Live Aid Musical, the story of the formation of Live Aid and all the struggles and stress leading up to music's biggest day in history is told through the eyes of Geldof as played by Craige Els. The show begins with teenager Jemma (Fayth Ifil) about to head off to college with her mom Suzanne (Melissa Jacques) urging Jemma to take her Live Aid book, the one detailing the most electrifying day of her life, to help with her studies. At that point, Geldof takes over for a show that is chock full of the dazzling glitz expected of a jukebox musical.

Not to say that this production isn't fun, it absolutely is - just as much as the original Live Aid concert was for those present. But, when witnessing the biggest concert in the world, it's easy to overlook the actual reason the concert existed in the first place. It takes a lot more than money to solve a problem like famine, and like in the writing of "Do They Know It's Christmas" and with Live Aid, Ethiopia became interchangeable with Africa which fails to acknowledge the intricacies of the 54 countries that make up all of Africa each with their own government, political climate, civil wars, and infrastructure. And money, without the proper means of distribution, can arrive in the correct location but fall into the wrong hands.

Luckily, in Just for One Day, Amara, an Ethiopian aid worker played wonderfully by Rhianne-Louise McCaulsky, steps in to give Geldof a reality check and context to life on the ground of current day Ethiopia which Geldof does open his eyes to but soon is swept up with the adrenaline of a show that must go on. On the other hand, there's Els as Geldof. Now I'm not too familiar with the actual Bob Geldof but if I'm to believe Els' portrayal, Geldof has a tendency to swear like a sailor while steamrolling ahead until he hits a roadblock, at which point he doubles down on the swearing until someone knocks sense into him. In other words, Els' portrayal is one rather loud note.

The mother daughter duo of Ifil and Jacques breathes much needed humanity into the story, however briefly they take center stage. Ifil representing the future and the next generation who could take the wins and fails from Live Aid and march ahead and Jacques, along with Hope Kenna who portrayed the young Suzanne, representing the wide-eyed teenage girl skipping class in order to hopefully land a much coveted ticket; a mother recalling the defining moment of her youth.

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