‘Sunny Afternoon’ review: A powerhouse celebration of The Kinks at Chicago Shakespeare Theater

The music hits like a flood of pure serotonin in “Sunny Afternoon,” the juke box-ish musical centered on 1960s groundbreaking rock-and-roll hitmakers The Kinks. Following a years-long run in London’s West End and a UK tour, the show is making its North American premiere at Navy Pier’s Chicago Shakespeare Theater. It’s easy to see — or rather, hear —why the production is a hit across the pond.

With music and lyrics by Kinks frontman Ray Davies and a book by Joe Penhall, director Edward Hall has shaped a show that relives the glory days and turbulent times of the band. Penhall’s book explores the iconic rockers with all the depth of a VH1 "Behind the Music" episode. But that doesn’t so much matter when the ensemble puts the music front and center — which is most of the time.

In addition to songwriter/singer Davies (Danny Horn, reprising his West End role), the band included his brother and lead guitarist Dave Davies (Oliver Hoare, also reprising his London role) and bassist Peter Quaife (Michael Lepore). Drummer Mick Avory (Kieran McCabe) joined the group in 1964, the same year it had its first hit in “You Really Got Me.”

The Kinks rode into the 1970s with a fusillade of Top 40 hits and a sound that was raw, potent and uncompromising. More than two dozen are showcased here: tunes about bourgeois soullessness (“A Well Respected Man”), working-class rage (“Dead End Street”) and bacchanalian excess (“Maximum Consumption”) along with heartbreakers (“A Long Way From Home”) and break-up anthems (“Tired of Waiting for You”).

“Sunny Afternoon” starts in the early 1960s, with Ray and Dave riffing at home. The first blast of guitar is (arguably, I suppose) one of the most significant, magnificent three-chord progressions in rock and roll. When the brothers up the volume well past 11, the impact feels like a sonic boom in the best possible way. (Ushers hand out earplugs along with programs).

The arc follows a “Jersey Boys”-like formula of bullet points. Passionate young working-class men find early success, rocket to stardom and are nearly done in by expoitative contracts, personality clashes, loneliness, substance abuse and Dionysian frenzies in high-end hotel rooms. Notably, Pehill's book omits some of the darker elements in the band’s history, including a suicide attempt and Ray Davies’ divorce.

The Kinks had a distinctive, uncompromising fervor that was pure rock and roll. But the score here plays with other genres as well,  including crooners (“You Still Want Me”) and intricate a cappella arrangements ("I'm Not Like Everybody Else") among the ballads and the pile-driving rockers.

Hoare, Horn, McCabe and Lepore play their own instruments, backed by music director Mason Moss on keys and Daniel Peters on guitar, the latter pair tucked almost invisibly behind the set’s towering walls of amps and speakers (great work by Miriam Buether, who also designed the mod costumes and provides a catwalk that allows the band to strut out into the audience).

As Ray, Horn has an intense dreaminess and a voice that can soar from subtle to scream without ever losing pitch. Hoare is charming as Dave, the reckless partier of the group, breaking out the cocaine and swinging on a chandelier in a pink slip (best chandelier action since “The Phantom of the Opera”). He also foreshadows what would become one of the band's most popular hits, “Lola”: Asked if he’s a boy or a girl, Dave defiantly answers “both.”

As percussionist Avory, McCabe delivers a jaw-dropping drum solo at the top of the second act that’s pure thunder. And as the relatively quiet member of the group, Lepore nails the sound of Quaife’s walloping bass.

The supporting women don’t fare as well. As Ray’s first wife Rasa, Ana Margaret Marcu is mostly relegated to being a fabulous flirt and then a sad housewife. And as the Davies’ mother Annie, Marya Grandy is grossly underused.

That said, “Sunny Afternoon” is rich with moments of joy, many from Adam Cooper’s frenetic choreography. A horn section marches out during “Waterloo Sunset.” A bombardment of confetti falls until the floor is covered during the title song — here played as a celebration of England’s 1966 win of the soccer World Cup.

In all, “Sunny Afternoon” delivers a white-hot musical take on The Kinks. You will be on your feet by the time the finale rolls around, the music flying around you like a wonderful, sonic blizzard.