Le monde des musicals

This compilation show includes the more well-known Porter songs; all classic are numbers, sometimes given a switch so that we have Daniel Evans singing ‘Love for sale’, usually the song of a worn-out hooker plying her trade, and ‘Can-Can’, the title song from the show, is here sung by Graham Bickley, who also dictates a cool version of ‘Miss Otis Regrets’, a song written by Porter to win a wager from Monty Woolley who bet he couldn’t write a song with that title. Mary Carewe does truly great versions of ‘My Heart Belongs to Daddy’, ‘Down in the Depths’ and ’Always True to You in My Fashion’, with plenty of oomph. Maria Friedman, consummate artist that she is, sings brilliant versions of ‘Blow, Gabriel, Blow’ and ‘I Happen to Like New York’. Simon Green as Cole excels in such numbers as ‘I’m Throwing a Ball Tonight’ and ‘You’ve Got That Thing’ while also playing the perfect host, as no doubt Porter himself was.

The list is pretty much endless and the show packs in nearly forty great songs. The two pianist-arrangers, Jason Carr and David Firman, provide splendid support. The arrangements are just terrific and their ‘Entr’acte’ after the interval is a joy in itself as they play a medley of ‘You’re the Top’, ‘Another Op’nin’, Another Show’, and ‘Anything Goes’ in which the two instruments seem to be in musical conversation with each other. It takes a while for the singers’ voices to get used to the Cadogan Hall’s acoustic. It’s a big open space with little to absorb the sound and it is not necessary to sing at full blast.