Julie Madly Deeply - Review

Crazy Coqs, London


***

Sarah-Louise Young

Julie Madly Deeply is a technically brilliant performance from Sarah-Louise Young that charts the life of possibly the queen of our national treasures, Julie Andrews.

A self-confessed fan and devotee, with a knowledge of both Andrews' life and repertoire that is arguably unsurpassed, Young's whirlwind performance has criss-crossed the Atlantic, with this three day residency at The Crazy Coqs marking the show's return to the capital.

Accompanied by Michael Roulston on piano, the act, even down to the patter, is meticulously rehearsed and delivered - and as a modestly-sized stage show Julie Madly Deeply deserves its acclaim. But as a cabaret act it misses the mark. Good cabaret should work around the fourth wall but here, and almost throughout, a bewigged Young hides behind that blasted wall giving us little more than a virtuoso acting performance, even if she does occasionally lapse into a hybrid of Princess Diana crossed with Norman Bates.

Notwithstanding that Young's flawless singing and mimicry is spot on (her Liza Minelli is a treat) there is virtually no spontaneity to be found here, nor much sincere interaction with her audience. And over those late night cocktails and g&t's, does one really need, for an eleven o'clock number and with a heartbreaking accuracy, an impersonation of Andrews' latter day voice, ravaged following her vocal-chord surgery, singing a plaintively muted Edleweiss? I'm not so sure

On twitter, Young sports the disarmingly self-deprecating title of Cabaret Whore. Actually, with her direction of the sensational Miss-Leading Ladies barely three months ago, she has proved she's a cabaret genius. Julie Madly Deeply is a finely honed work of musical and theatrical excellence that would be best served the other side of Piccadilly Circus amidst the bijou intimacy of the Jermyn Street Theatre. But as cabaret, it’s whored.

Runs until 14th November

Liz Robertson - Songs From My Trunk

London Hippodrome, London

***

Liz Robertson

For a solo night, one of musical theatre’s more talented leading ladies Liz Robertson performed in the Matcham Room at London’s Hippodrome. Her show, Songs From My Trunk was a collection of memorable and inspirational numbers that have stayed with the singer since her teens and beyond and for a woman who has professionally found herself restricted to the Julie Andrews soprano range, the gig provided an opportunity to play around with some much loved melodies, hitherto denied her.

Robertson’s sound is exquisite. Her vocal clarity and ability to hold a note is a treat and there was only a hint of a wobble as she tackled The Beach Boys’ God Only Knows. (And to be fair, the song is a veritable Everest of a challenge). Her MD and friend of many years, Chris Walker, had compiled arrangements that were nearly all very easy on the ear and he conducted his three piece band with perceptive precision, subtle bass work and softened percussion giving a very jazzy feel to the evening.

Produced by Black Sapphire who are a welcome if relative newcomer on London’s cabaret scene, Robertson could perhaps have been better served by her producer shaking up the set list. Whilst some of the songs had a spark to their sweet melody, with her Old Black Magic and her second half opener, It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing being particular treats, too many of her anecdotes were anodyne and too many piquant numbers were blandly merged into each other, creating more of a wallpaper of sound that neither singer nor producer would have intended. That her take on Brian Wilson’s Beach Boys classic became seamlessly segued into Art Garfunkel’s I Only Have Eyes For You, did neither song any favours.

As an encore, Miss Robertson gave an uplifting Birth To The Blues that for the first time that evening, got this reviewer’s toes tapping. More of that sensation would have been welcome and if Songs From My Trunk is a noble try-out of a future set, then perhaps an inclusion of one or two of Robertson’s finer career show tunes may just make the night’s sound a little more elevating than elevator. This diva is unquestionably enchanting, she just needs her set to be a little more thrilling. Her London return is eagerly awaited.

Shana Farr

Crazy Coqs, London

*****

 

Shana Farr



Shana Farr makes her UK debut at the Crazy Coqs and it is a wonder that it has taken this lady so long to cross the pond. In a show entitled Whistling Away The Dark, over the course of a far too fleeting hour and in an act that was for once truly a tribute, rather than a trotted out tribute act, over twenty or so songs she distilled and incredibly replicated the genius that is Julie Andrews.

Farr's performance, accompanied by Nathan Martin on piano who incredibly had only met her some 24 hours previously, was flawless. Just as a virtuoso musician can make their instrument come alive in their hands, so it is with Farr and her voice. Her greatest salute to Julie Andrews is that even with her American accent, she performs the Englishwoman's numbers with just the right amount of gusto and fragility as may be required, combined apparently with any other emotion that may be required in between.

Opening her act with a medley of favourites she then sang the little known but incredibly demanding Je Suis Titania. Explaining that the complex aria was in fact the song that Andrews, then un-discovered by Hollywood, sung to the then Princess (now Queen) Elizabeth at a London concert, her fine soprano voice soaring effortlessly, yet at all times remaining in her control, never once wobbling in tone, tempo or strength.

The Sound Of Music, Star and Cinderella were amongst the shows that Farr acknowledged, with A Spoonful of Sugar being the most delightful way to reference Mary Poppins. During Stay Awake, from the same movie, if one pretended not to and closed ones eyes, it could as easily have been Andrews herself singing, such was the fidelity of the performance.

Gems on the night, amongst a selection of sparkling arrangements, were Someone To Watch Over Me and I Could Have Danced All Night. Her final encore performance of Feed The Birds (her favourite, and apparently Walt Disney's too) was a fine and exquisite interpretation of a song that speaks to us all and is as pitiful as it is hopeful.

In recent years Tracie Bennett has won acclaim as a Brit emulating the all American Judy Garland. Farr gives the special cultural relationship between our two nations a mirrored spin with this, her distinct "Yank's take" on one of our very own national treasures. Her knowledge of Andrew's life is thorough and meticulously researched and if there is one criticism of the night, it is that occasionally her patter is too drawn out and too detailed. (“Whats that?” I hear you say, “ an American talking too much? Surely some mistake..") Farr does not need to justify her devotion to Andrews to a London audience or any other for that matter as her performance defines both her excellence and her credentials. For an evening of outstanding cabaret that is currently amongst the best to be found in town, head to the Crazy Coqs before her week's residence is up.

Until May 18th 2013