If you see the Lyric Theatre Belfast’s Good Vibrations at off-Broadway’s Irish Arts Center, there’s a 100% chance you’ll come away with “Teenage Kicks” stuck in your head, where it will remain firmly ensconced for days if not weeks. To be clear, this is not a bad thing. The 1978 hit from the Derry band The Undertones is a certified banger: two and a half minutes of punk-pop perfection. BBC Radio 1 DJ/tastemaker John Peel called it his all-time favorite song—when he first heard it, he was so smitten that it played it twice—even requesting that a lyric (“teenage dreams so hard to beat”) be engraved on his tombstone.
Based on the 2012 film of the same name, the musical Good Vibrations—the story of the wide-eyed, music-loving idealist Terri Hooley (played by Glen Wallace), his record shop, his promotion of local bands, and the emerging punk scene, set against the backdrop of the Troubles (aka the Northern Ireland conflict)—shines a spotlight on a genre with which most U.S. theatergoers likely aren’t very familiar: Irish punk rock. If you’ve heard Rudi’s “Big Time” or “Justa Nother Teenage Rebel” by The Outcasts, reader, your music knowledge goes far deeper than mine. Before this, my only encounter with The Undertones was via One Direction (seriously), whose 2013 charity single “One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)” mashed up the Irish rockers’ biggest hit with a Blondie classic. How many times have I listened to “Teenage Kicks” since I saw Good Vibrations? Frankly, I’ve lost count.
Hooley’s philosophy was simple: “If I’m going to stay, and they’re going to kill me, they may as well kill me doing something I love.” So he decides to open a record store on a Belfast street nicknamed Bomb Alley. Then he decides to get the bands he loves into a recording studio. Then he decides to take them on the road. His wife Ruth (played by Jayne Wisener) is blessed with an astounding reservoir of patience. Hooley seems to run on cigarettes and cheek (he’s the one who gets “Teenage Kicks” into Peel’s hands, after all), but eventually his complete lack of business acumen catches up with him.
Written by Colin Carberry and Glenn Patterson (staying extremely faithful to their screenplay), Good Vibrations, like most musicals about music, is at its best when it’s singing—and in this case, when it’s rocking. The scenes in the clubs with the aforementioned punk bands are spectacular; don’t be surprised if you find yourself dancing in your seat. The quieter moments, however, can drag. Director Des Kennedy smartly underscores many scenes with background music, played and sung by the cast, but those songs rarely make an impact. One notable exception: Wisener’s lovely and plaintive rendition of “To Know Him Is To Love Him,” which hews closer to the mournful Amy Winehouse cover than to the Teddy Bears original; while Ruth is declaring her devotion by ballad, Terri is getting beat to a pulp by a couple of skinheads.
One housekeeping note: You’ll want to peruse the digital program for a complete song list, blurbs about the bands, a bio on Terri, and musings on punk from the creative team. But if you want to read it pre-show or during intermission, you’ll need excellent cell service or the theater’s Wi-Fi password.
Good Vibrations opened June 20, 2023, at Irish Arts Center and runs through July 16. Tickets and information: irishartscenter.org
