Written by: Tom Woods (@Thomas_E_Woods)Where did Woods watch it?
The Last Refuge (Peckham), London
Was Woods won over?
***
Being someone who by and large has never been a particular
fan of either Blues or Jazz music, Blues
in the Night was always going to have its work cut out in order to impress.
But impress it did. If you are into either Blues or the 1930’s time period,
stop reading for a moment and buy a ticket.
In order to get a sense of the show, particular mention must
be made of the set. Sean Turner has done a wonderful job, turning the theatre
into a 1930’s cabaret club. There are tables littering the auditorium with
chairs for the audience, and a live band on stage in front of which several
numbers take place. Around the outskirts of the room are the three dressing
rooms of the female characters; the girl with a date (Dani Copperstone), the woman
of the world (Emily Bevan), the lady of the road (Rosalind James), and the bar,
propping up the one male character; the man in the saloon (Duane Gooden).
Everything from the red and brown colour pallet of the set to costumes work
together to give the audience the sense of being in a cabaret bar 1930’s
Chicago.
It is something of a curious show, in that there is no, or
at least very little spoken dialogue. In essence these relationships between
the three characters serve purely as a framing device to set up a selection of
blues numbers -26 in total- some sung on stage, others sung in the characters
dressing rooms. The songs come very quickly one after another, some blending
into each other, and it feels that the show is moving quite quickly given most of
the songs are relatively slow, smooth numbers. Vocals are all pretty strong,
though Rosalind James steals the show with some very powerful numbers, and
Emily Bevan comes into her own with a very sombre penultimate song that is
delivered with such sincerity that it could be a finale all on its own. It is a
shame that a few of the lines were lost due to audio levels; the band at times
plays a bit too loudly and a few microphones wouldn’t go amiss.
The atmosphere is almost wonderful. But for a show that goes
so far to make the audience feel immersed in this world, it stops a bit too
short. The actors, whilst doing stage numbers do come and dance at the tables
but seemed a bit hesitant which is a shame, even when they did come forward it
was seldom past the first few tables. In addition, with the atmosphere around
the tables and delectable pre-show themed drinks, it might have been nice to
have waiters discreetly taking drinks orders through the show and delivering to
the tables. Admittedly, this would then turn the show more into a blues night
than a musical, and maybe that is not the point - but this is a musical that
would potentially lend itself well to such immersion.
Blues in the Night certainly
delivers an enjoyable evening. How much you get from it may well depend on
whether you like the music on offer, but for atmosphere alone it is well worth
a look at. Even if it is holding back a bit you will struggle to find a more
immersive 1930’s Blues night.
This production runs until 9 February 2013.
For more information: http://www.thelastrefuge.co.uk/theatre-company/whats-on/
@TheLastRefugeUK
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