By co-incidence today was the London Pride march and working
my way through the sea of colour between Leicester Square and Charing Cross was
the perfect visual/cultural aperitif for the sea of green that greeted us at
the fabulous theatre under the arches. I haven’t been to the CCT for a long
time but it remains an atmospheric venue with the space being used since 1864
to provide and oasis of entertainment.
Janie Dee’s ground-hugging cabaret has previously had rave
reviews and a sold-out series when it ran at Crazy Coqs in May and I knew
within minutes that this matinee introduction to the new run was going to be no
different with a terrific atmosphere and an immediate intimacy established
between world-class performers and the audience.
We started off with an excerpt from Beethoven’s Pastoral
Symphony – I think? – expertly played by the Mazaika Duo with Sarah Harrison on
violin and Igor Outkine on accordions, both looking like they might have just
stepped out of The Red Hedgehog tavern (Zum Roten Igel!) so favoured by Johannes
Brahms, who would listen to the gypsy players there. This wasn’t just cabaret
but a throwback to the classic variety theatre of the Victorian age, an era,
for all its dark mills was closer to nature than we are now even if the
industrial terraforming of the planet was well underway by then.
And then came Janie and she was singing On a Clear Day, channelling Streisand in a way few can in a thrilling rendition of this most uplifting and complex song, doing so with confidence and with love. The perfect cue to open our eyes and minds to a discussion of what some hard hearts call “the Green agenda” as if miserable cliché is going to have utility in a world pushed too far and filled with old men (mostly) claiming that we “can’t afford” to save our futures. No room for hackneyed emotion in this show and, to be honest, it’s not my first rodeo when it comes to Janie Dee making me cry…
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| Different hosts twice a day! DO NOT MISS! |
The show is about positive action though after all, “what
good is sitting alone in your room?” mused our star as she took a sip of wine
from the table adjacent to the stage. As with all good cabaret there’s always a
risk of audience involvement… but we are all already involved and invested in
this situation. Kanie sang Cabaret with Lisa-level skill accompanied by musical
director Jordan Paul Clarke on piano and the Mazaika Duo.
She explained the reasons for the shows and, as someone in
the audience later said after the show, If Janie Dee tells you she’s got an
idea you better listen… It was sparked by seeing her children marching for the
Green cause as she saw them off from the National Theatre where she was
performing in Sondheim’s Follies. And since that point she’s worked to include
some of the finest songs and writers in connecting our planet’s situation to
the eternal truths of their work. So, we had thoroughbred versions of Tom
Lehrer’s Poisoning Pigeons in The Park and Stephen Sondheim’s Another
Hundred People, mixed with Janie’s quoting from Shakespeare… 400-hundred-year-old
words, that still land hard on humanity with the humility to give them pause.
In 2025 faced with belligerence and boredom on both sides,
as we sleepwalk towards our downfall what else can we do apart from start a
cabaret and enjoy ourselves, inform ourselves… it’s later than we think.
Janie was joined by Josephina Ortiz Lewis and Sophia Priolo, both remarkable rising stars the former in possession of a remarkable operatic power and the latter an actor, dancer and poet who has a film featuring her words recently released. Each will present their own cabaret over the next week at the Charing Cross and they are bright and beautifully talented people.
Warning: Dangerously talented!
Janie then introduced a trio of other emerging acts starting
with EM The Master – Lady Gaga collaborator! - who as possibly the country’s
leading theatrical music artist, diver and ocean conservationist blew our minds
with her description of the, to me at least, and no doubt many others,
previously unknown Shrimp Pimp…
The Mantis Shrimp comes with an impressive set of 16 cones
in their eyes, over five times the range of vision we humans have with just
three and whilst seeing a lysergic world of incredible colours is also the apex
predator of its crustacean class. Its skin is also a marvel being used in the
development of man’s military clothing… and, as MT proceeded to sing, this
Shrimp is clearly no-one’s wimp.
Next up was the multi-talented Alfie Freedman who I’d seen
earlier this year as Connor Sparrowhawk in Laughing Boy at the Jermyn
Street Theatre with Janie playing his mother, Professor Ryan, in a play based
on the true story of Connor’s death in care. Here he showed his vocal prowess
and ability to move us in different ways.
Then there was Three’s Company: Helena Neil-Smith, Miriana
Pavia and Rebecca Goddard, all brought together by a force stronger than fate
and singing their way forward in beautiful unity.
Finally, there was the mighty Ian Shaw leading the company
singling Joni Mitchell’s Shine:
Let your little light shine, Let your little light shine
Shine on the dazzling darkness, That restores us in deep sleep
Shine on what we throw away, And what we keep.
Not only is Ian one of our finest jazz performers he’s also got a heart of gold and is deeply involved in these issues. The song was beautifully wrought and lifted the whole space as each performer added their voice.
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| This man has A Voice!! Book Now! |
IThankYouRating: ***** We left the theatre on a high and
full of hope and resolution to see more of these Beautiful World Cabarets… No
tube hassle of delayed trains could spoil my mood as Mitchell’s words kept on
repeating in my mind… and the thought of what can I do?
Engaging and energising, it’s sincere in a skilled and entertaining way that touches us all. It's a call to action, it's a call to come and join the cabaret... my friends!
The cabaret runs until 13th July and full details are on the Theatre’s website – book now for as many as you can! Also, a good bar and very good aircon… just saying!
Saturday 5 July at 7.30pm - Wayne Sleep OBE
Saturday 5 July at 9.30pm - Carly Mercedes Dyer
Sunday 6 July at 4pm - Lorna Dallas
Sunday 6 July at 6pm - Cassidy Janson
Monday 7 July at 7.30pm - EM The Master
Tuesday 8 July at 7.30pm - Barlow & Smith
Tuesday 8 July at 9.30pm - Janie Dee
Wednesday 9 July at 7.30pm - Josephina Ortiz Lewis
Wednesday 9 July at 9.30pm - Three’s Company
Thursday 10 July at 7.30pm - Olivia Williams
Friday 11 July at 7.30pm - Alfie Friedman - Unsovereignty
Friday 11 July at 9.30pm - Sister Mary - ‘Seven Deadly Sins
on Earth’
Saturday 12 July at 7.30pm - Ian Shaw
Saturday 12 July at 9.30pm - Mazaika Duo
Sunday 13 July at 4pm - Laura Pitt-Pulford - “Love, Life and
the World”
Sunday 13 July at 6pm Dame Maureen Lipman and friends
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| If you see me walking down the street... cross the road! |
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