Mandy Patinkin Live In Concert - Review

Lyric Theatre, London

*****

Mandy Patinkin

Here for a brief 8-gig London residency, Mandy Patinkin Live in Concert is a 90-minute audience with one of musical theatre’s most gifted and versatile performers.

Accompanied by the equally talented Adam Ben-David on piano, Patinkin took his audience on a whirl around the American Songbook that included a delicious detour through Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody too.

The evening’s setlist was an ingenious series of segues that saw numbers from writers including Loesser, Sondheim and Rodgers and Hammerstein fused into medleys that Patinkin’s perfectly weighted baritone delivered deliciously.

Patinkin’s interpretations and acting through song was on point throughout - not least in Marc Anthony Thompson's heartbreaking composition My Mom and a thrilling Soliloquy from Carousel. His partnership with Ben-David is clearly well grounded, the musical synergy between singer and pianist being one of complete connection and the evening's penultimate number Being Alive proving sensational.

In a gig peppered with anecdotes, Patinkin spoke in equal measure of both his glittering Broadway career and his deeply valued Jewish heritage. Nothing however could have prepared the audience for Patinkin’s encore that he introduced simply as a song with a tragic background, written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg. While such a build-up may well have led the packed Lyric Theatre to not unreasonably expect Somewhere Over The Rainbow, to hear the Homeland star perform the song in Yiddish, a mournful yet brave and proud celebration of his Jewish identity, was a moment in theatre that will live forever. Unmissable.

In concert until 19th November

Photo credit: Joan Marcus

The Choir of Man - Review

Arts Theatre, London

****

Created by Nic Doodson and Andrew Kay

Directed by Nic Doodson

The cast of The Choir Of Man

In an evening that sees the Arts Theatre’s stage transformed into the Jungle Pub, The Choir of Man is an immaculately delivered tribute to glorious masculinity (yes, you read that correctly) and the importance of friendship, talking and, for the single-act ninety minutes of this show at least, the power of song.

More of a playlist than a jukebox musical, The Choir of Man incorporates bangers from across decades, bands and both sides of the Atlantic, performed by 9 actors accompanied by a 4-piece band. The cast’s air of folksy camaraderie is convincing, but look closely and the evening is (as a West End show should be) immaculately rehearsed and drilled. Before the show the audience can buy pints from the onstage bar and with frequent moments of in-show audience participation, the ale flows liberally throughout.

From ballads to rock classics and anthems, you have to hand it to Nic Doodson and Andrew Kay for seeing the potential of fusing The Proclaimers’ 500 Miles, Luther Vandross’ Dance With My Father and Queen’s Somebody To Love into the same setlist. The evening’s compilations are inspired - and hats off to any show that includes Rupert Holmes’s Escape (The Pina Colada Song), albeit that number went down very well with an audience mostly comprised of women having a great night out.

The actors are all pitch perfect quadruple-threats but a nod to Ben Goffe who not only pulls off a stunning tap routine to Paul Simon’s 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover, but offers up a brilliant trumpet riff to the Pina Colada song too.

There are moments of narrative betwixt some of the songs that very occasionally stray into schmaltz - but these monologues albeit rehearsed, are sincerely researched and there’s a heartfelt plea from the stage to support CALM, a charity that seeks to reduce UK suicides, 75% of which are men.

Amidst blinding talent that includes some jaw-dropping acapella work, a refreshing message and sensational craic, The Choir of Man makes for a cracking night out.

Runs until 18 February 2024

John Owen-Jones - In Cabaret At The Hippodrome, London

Hippodrome, London

****

John Owen-Jones giving it everything at the Hippodrome

For over 15 years John Owen-Jones name has been inextricably linked with those two Cameron Mackintosh behemoths, Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera. Very few can match the combined performance count of the youngest ever Jean Valjean and the longest running West End Phantom.

So it is perhaps unsurprising that his cabaret evening at the Hippodrome centred around his Mackintosh years, both in terms of song choices and in repartee with the audience, in which he revealed his (feigned) animosity for the ‘younger, better looking’ Ramin Karimloo. Backed by an excellent seven piece band under musical director John Quirk, we were treated to ‘Music of the Night’, ‘Bring Him Home’, a fine rendition of ‘Til I Hear You Sing’ - Love Never Dies’ stand out song – and the recent addition to the Les Mis songlist, ‘Suddenly’. And the epic musical theatre anthems didn’t end there, with ‘This is the Moment’ and ‘Anthem’ also getting outings. It is easy, I suppose, to be sniffy at such a list of over-performed classics, but it was clear that this was what the audience had come to hear, and very few people can sing them better than Owen-Jones. 

It did mean, however, that there was a slightly relentless quality to much of the evening which wasn’t helped by how loudly both singer and band were miked for the relatively small room. Owen-Jones has a wonderful, powerful voice, and he could have been miked a quarter less loud and still easily have carried above the band. It may have been giving the audience what they wanted, but at times one was left wishing for an introspective moment, if only to give the ear drums a rest!

And in fact, what introspective moments there were, were very lovely. Queen’s ‘Love of My Life’ (accompanied only by a solo guitar), the Bacharach-esque ‘Dangling’ by Maury Yeston, and Joe Cocker’s ‘You Are So Beautiful’ were all beautifully sung highlights. 

Aside from his years on the West End, the one other key influence on the night was made clear the moment he opened his mouth to speak: ‘In case you don’t know…I’m Welsh!’ he cheerfully announced. And easily the best moments of the night were the two songs from the back catalogue of his great hero, Tom Jones. Both ‘Thunderball’ and ‘Delilah’ were delivered with such a joyous relish and vocal power that suddenly the sound levels felt exactly right. Relentless it may have been at times, but when the singing is that good, who’s complaining?