Back To Basics

It’s been quite a busy week with several reviews to get under my belt and an unscheduled extra day in the office to deal with. On Sunday I was off to review Back To The Musicals at The Pheasantry on the King’s Road. The Pheasantry is an intimate venue that seats about 70 people comfortably and serves food and drinks. To a certain extent it fills the gap left behind by the closure of Pizza on the Park a couple of years ago but it lacks the size and facilities to be able to handle really big names in the industry, who no will no doubt be lured by the bright lights and plush fixtures and fittings of the Matcham Room at the Hippodrome in Leicester Square.

The Matcham Room is also a much bigger venue, seating about 180 people so producers are more likely to be able to make some money. A hope shared no doubt by the crowds of tired-looking punters wandering around the casino in search of easy money on red or black. Anyway, according to the official press release Back To The Musicals promised ‘up and coming performers from the world of the West End exploring the rich and varied catalogue of musical theatre’s biggest hits (and misses) from 1950 – 1955’ Hmmmm……

Now I won’t get into a lather about the choices made but suffice to say the variety wasn’t quite as rich as it could have been. My biggest beef was with the performances.  Hell yes, the quartet were great singers but who were they? I’m not moaning at the lack of star names but at the lack of any names at all. Cabaret, especially intimate cabaret like this has always been a little bit more than standing on stage and singing songs. It’s about engaging with your audience, explaining why you ate there and maybe explaining some of your song or show choices. Admittedly there was an introduction to each set, but either spoken off-stage or read from a scrappy piece of paper on stage. Ingénue director and performer Jennifer Coyle needs to realise that they have a decent product here that requires a good deal more thought in terms of presentation. At the very least next time, be prepared for an encore! It does make me wonder how many good cabaret performer graduates actually get to see to learn from.