THE AMERICAN SONGBOOK IN LONDON To 4 March.

London

THE AMERICAN SONGBOOK IN LONDON

Jermyn Street Theatre, 16B Jermyn Street SW1Y 6ST To 4 March 2007
Tue-Sat 7.30pm Ma: Sat & Sun 3pm
Runs 1hr 30min No interval

TICKETS: 0207 287 2875
Review: Geoff Ambler 16 February 2007

A Little Night Music hits all the right notes.
For a few weeks only the Jermyn Street Theatre is hosting a season of leading American cabaret performers singing songs from the finest composers Broadway and Hollywood have given us; Andrea Marcovicci sings Frank Loesser, Steve Ross sings Stephen Sondheim, Maude Maggart sings Irving Berlin and Jeff Harnar sings Cole Porter.

The Jermyn Street Theatre is one of the West End's few cosily intimate venues, hidden in the heart of Theatreland only yards from a tourist-thronged Piccadilly Circus. It is a thoroughly friendly and welcoming theatre and, on the evening I was invited along to see Steve Ross sing Sondheim, it was filled with an audience which was enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the subject and entirely appreciative of the performance from start to finish.

The evening was introduced by Jeff Harner as “Everything’s coming up Ross’s ” and it was. Sondheim is a fascinating composer, his songs - masterpieces of wit and bittersweet love - each telling a story, and Steve Ross’s selection was for me both a mixture of personal favourites and previously undiscovered treasures. His knowledge of, and obvious love for, the composer's work was apparent in every number and his understated singing style, dry wit and personal arrangements, always delightful. Ross intersperses his set with humorous and appropriate anecdotes and we discover that his appreciation for Sondheim stemmed from a preview performance of Company in 1970. How many can claim provenannce of that calibre for their love of Sondheim’s works?

Listening to Steve Ross bring Sondheim’s brilliance to life, on the small stage shrouded in heavy red velvet drapes, behind his Steinway, accompanied only by David Johnson on Bass, felt completely appropriate and made a thoroughly spellbinding evening. Exactly what Sondheim cabaret should be.

This series of 'American Songbook' cabarets at the Jermyn Street Theatre will allow appreciators of these composers, and musicals in general, an opportunity to experience masterful renditions in an environment always conducive to the cabaret experience.

Steve Ross sings Stephen Sondheim, 13-18 Feb
Maude Maggart sings Irving Berlin, 20-25 Feb
Jeff Harnar sings Cole Porter, 27-4 Mar

2007-02-19 01:16:57