The monumental soundtrack of Perry Henzell\u2019s film, starring Jimmy Cliff, powered the best musical of 2025. Its creators discuss bringing their hit back after the reggae giant\u2019s death<\/p>\n
On a chilly morning at a Silvertown studio behind London City airport, the sunburst intro to Jimmy Cliff\u2019s The Harder They Come is on repeat. Dancers run through a routine studded with reggae and dancehall moves. \u201cGet high,\u201d commands associate choreographer Neisha-yen Jones with a smile. \u201cGet low!\u201d The ensemble rise and dip. They do the bogle and whine around each other as their watchful director Matthew Xia nods along. They circle Natey Jones who breaks out the opening line: \u201cWell, they tell me of a pie up in the sky.\u201d In the distance, a plane leaves the ground.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s eight months since The Harder They Come\u2019s full-throttle takeoff at Stratford East, where the musical was so popular that it is now returning for a second run which will also serve as a eulogy for Cliff who died in November<\/a>. Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks\u2019 adaptation of Perry Henzell\u2019s 1972 Jamaican film<\/a> is bolstered by a handful of her own songs as well as classics including Israelites and Wonderful World, Beautiful People \u2013 plus every number on the film\u2019s monumental soundtrack. Jones is reprising the role of Ivan (played on screen by Cliff and inspired by real-life outlaw Rhyging<\/a>), who arrives in Kingston from the country and is dismissed and exploited, before becoming both a hit singer and a fugitive. The original was akin to cin\u00e9ma v\u00e9rit\u00e9, directly evoked spaghetti westerns and veered into blaxploitation territory; Ivan\u2019s tale has gained greater warmth, humour and protest spirit on stage. It was the best musical I saw in 2025.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/9afc3939ec60aac3dc4798d163053bf78af043ac\/669_0_6663_5333\/master\/6663.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=2071b6e2f6189dc04722b8d525ce197d\" "\\"\u2018What\u2019s")
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