Miss-Leading Ladies - Review

St James Studio

*****

Co-written and directed by Sarah-Louise Young

Ria Jones and Ceri Dupree

Before launching into a sassy opening routine of Irving Berlin's Sisters, Ria Jones and Ceri Dupree tease their audience with a hint of Gypsy's act one Let Me Entertain You - sung of course originally by that show's child sisters June and Louise. And in that moment these two gifted performers achieve a rare and elusive vanishing point that sees dramatic irony fade into reality. For Dupree and Jones really are siblings, Dupree by a few years being Jones' elder brother.

Miss-Leading Ladies is an expertly crafted tribute to the (mainly Broadway) female musical theatre stars of the last century. Amongst many moments of side splitting humour, there can be glimpses of gut wrenching pathos - and it is a tribute to both the performers and their director Sarah-Louise Young that such a whirl through history can be as informative as it is perfectly drilled and delivered.

Jones and Dupree know how to work a crowd – and where Jones, a former Eva Peron, Fantine and Grizabella in her time, has a voice that is simply majestic both in its refined elegance and in her astonishing belt that she unleashes from time to time, it is Dupree’s outrageously glamorous drag outfits (I lost count of his wardrobe changes - bravo costume maker James Maciver ) that garner the evening’s biggest laughs.

Not just songs and patter, there’s a hint of Music Hall too complete with seaside-postcard style saucy lyrics, along with the occasional spot of encouraged singalong. As Dupree’s ability to rattle off bawdy gags hits a sweet spot, so his mimicry of Broadway’s Grand Dames is sensational. There’s a rictus Bette Davis (or was that Carol Channing?), Eartha Kitt becomes a prosecco pouring soak (thanks for the unexpected glass of fizz, mind) whilst his Marlene Dietrich, sporting a white fur train that goes on forever, sings Falling In Love again re-written to Lifting My Face Again. And those are just a few of Dupree’s personae.

Another one of Ceri Dupree's sensational outfits!

Jones plays a straighter bat, her numbers evidencing a love for Ethel Merman, though the welsh diva also gives a sublimely understated nod to Judy Garland with The Man That Got Away. As she mounts the stage clad in black and sporting a crucifix, it only takes a hint of accordion, along with her grip of a 1950’s microphone stand to suggest Piaf. Je Ne Regrette Rien and Hymn To Love duly follow and as Jones scales the latter’s simply enchanted chords, with head bowed and a perfect presence, she captures the essence of the enigmatic chanteuse.

To be honest, Miss-Leading Ladies deserves its 5 stars for Dupree’s costumes alone – but more than that - these two singers, blessed with sharing what is clearly the most gifted of gene pools, are just a terrific act. Their penultimate number Rose’s Turn, again from Gypsy, works not just as a nod to Imelda Staunton’s excellence that’s carrying on down the road, but rather gives the song an entirely new interpretation. It is a special moment to witness these talented siblings singing such a withering comment upon a failed parental ego.

Edward Court on piano together with Sally Peerless on flute and reeds offer an accompaniment that only matches their singers’ polish and to be fair, Ben Roger's lighting is a bit of a treat too.

With both drag and false lashes removed, Dupree joins Jones for a final number of Peter Allen’s Quiet Please, There’s A Lady On Stage whence the St James audience rose as one (and not for the first time that evening either) to salute the pair. Don’t miss Miss-Leading Ladies, it is an evening of outstanding cabaret.

Runs until 30th August

Photo credit: Jamie Scott-Smith

Jerry's Girls - Review

Jermyn Street Theatre, London

****

Music and lyrics by Jerry Herman
Concepts by Larry Alford, Wayne Cilento and Jerry Herman
Directed by Kate Golledge

(l-r) Sarah-Louise Young, Emma Barton and Ria Jones

Drawn from the shows of Jerry Herman, Jerry’s Girls is a delightful cabaret that in the hands of three talented ladies, offers a whirl of show tunes that thoroughly deserves its hastily arranged return visit to Jermyn Street

  

Emma Barton, Ria Jones and Sarah-Louise Young are magnificent throughout, working their way through a set list that was originally put together for a Broadway revue back in the 1980’s. The compilation is rarely seen over here and credit to producers Katy Lipson and Guy James for having the ingenuity to have mounted it so successfully.

With perhaps the exception of Milk and Honey, the numbers are all familiar to musical theatre lovers and the combination of gloriously powerful belts intermingled with moments of the purest poignancy make for an evening that would be an emotional rollercoaster were it not all so ridiculously enjoyable. All of Herman’s big shows get a look in, with Barton’s Mabel in Wherever He Ain’t channelling an exquisite vocal presence that also suggests just a hint of Albert Square! From the same show, Young and Jones give a gorgeous and perfectly weighted nuance to I Won’t Send Roses. 

Herman’s humour sparkles, never wittier than in a song he wrote for the revue, Take It All Off, that wonderfully spoofs burlesque stripping. Again there is fabulous work from Young with Jones being disarmingly (and hilariously) self-deprecating as a stripper whose best years are behind her. 

There are nods to Hello Dolly throughout, with the show ending on a powerful tribute to all that La Cage Aux Folles stood for. Grins along with lumps-in-throats all round.

Kate Golledge directs assuredly, with an entertaining eye for detail. Matthew Cole choreographs cleverly too given the venue's intimacy and that Tap Your Troubles Away evolved into all three women tap-dancing, accompanied by pianist and MD Edward Court and his reed and mandolin playing partner Sophie Byrne on their feet too, (both fabulous musicians to boot) only added to the wondrous sparkle of the occasion. My one regret was not having discovered this gem of a show sooner so I could have had the opportunity to have returned to see it again.

Jerry’s Girls is only playing until May 31st. Barely lasting two hours, it offers West End entertainment at a fraction of a typical West End price. If you love what Broadway, Streisand, Merman & co were/are all about, then you’ll come out grinning. Go see this show!

Runs until 31st May