Anyone turning up expecting to see Cabaret done Will Young-style will be in for a short sharp shock.
It's clear from this show that the lad doesn't just sing love songs for a living but is a consummate all-rounder, acting - indeed hamming it up - as the Emcee of the seedy Kit Kat Club.
He's loving it so much you could even believe Will Young was born to this role. He even seems completely at ease with his nude scene.
And that's great news for a show that's touring four regional venues before embarking on its big West End run.
It's a mature performance from the man everyone wants to see, ten years on from his Pop Idol win.
He's perfectly cast, white-faced and manic, resembling one of Hogarth's grotesques as his role brings a chilling reminder of the changes affecting Berlin and Germany in 1931.
Will's clearly enjoying himself and deserves his share of the standing ovation at the final curtain.
His co-star Michelle Ryan has a silky strong singing voice but doesn't quite bring the gusto we'd hope for as Sally Bowles.
She works neatly with Clifford Bradshaw (played by Henry Luxembourg) as we follow their developing relationship through the inter-war years as Nazism slowly rises in Berlin.
We're treated to a string of top-notch well-known numbers as both jump aboard the helter-skelter anything-goes lifestyle of the party set.
Will's The Money Song, Michelle with Cabaret and some touching melodies as we begin to see how Sian Phillips' Fraulein Schneider might have a future with Jewish Herr Schultz (played by Linal Haft, who although he has a string of stage, TV and big screen credits, will be forever Maureen Lipman's son in the BT ads).
As we lose ourselves in the plot and mayhem of the debauched Kit Kat Club, it comes as something of a shock when Ernst Ludwig (Nicholas Tizzard) takes off his overcoat to reveal a swastika armband.
And that's where the lives of both couples begin to unravel.
Showing posts with label Pop Idol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pop Idol. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 11
Friday, September 10
Pop Idol Darius becomes big band hero
As we catch up with Darius Campbell, star of stage and small screen, we find him trapped slap bang in between interviews.
He’s busy promoting a musical tour which he’s producing himself, The History of the Big Bands, which visits Lincoln next month.
My slot was scheduled for 5.30pm, then tomorrow, than 4pm, 3pm, 2.30pm and 2.15pm, after he’d done a live broadcast. We settled for 3pm.
It sounds as though the likeable musical polymath is going through it a bit. But he confides that he really is living the dream.
Darius, who used to be Darius Danesh, said: “When I was 12 years old I was part of Scottish Opera in a children’s chorus and performed in the original production of The Trojans.
“Then I was a child actor in Carmen, which went to the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.
“When I was backstage I always remember what was behind the backdrop curtain.
“There was a space five times the size of the onstage area, and twice the size of a football pitch. It was filled with the stage props and staging from all the great operas – it was a bit like stepping into the other side of the wardrobe into Narnia for me.
“I remember feeling that I wanted to be part of all that.”
But Darius gave up a promising operatic career to study English literature at university, before exploding back onto the scene via Pop Idol and Popstar to Operastar.
His career has now come full circle with the chance to once again beguile the theatre audience.
“I always wanted to be involved in telling a great story. Whether that’s in a love song, acting in Shakespeare or in a West End musical, whatever it might be. It’s the spectacle.”
Having recently performed as Escamillo in Raymond Gubby’s vast production of Carmen at the O2 Arena, this is now Darius’s own chance to run the show.
He said: “I’m experiencing the challenge of producing a tour, which is really exciting.
“I want to transport the audience back to a different era.
“I’ll be reliving the big bands through the eyes of band leaders like Duke Ellington and Count Basie, and taking the audience on a journey through the work of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Nat King Cole. I am supported by big band performers who are among the best musicians in Europe. It’s not just a gig – it’s a show.”
Fans of Darius will know his range. He was Billy Flynn in Chicago, Sky Masterson in the Olivier Award-winning Guys and Dolls and Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind, all in the West End.
He wrote Colourblind, which went straight to No 1 after Pop Idol, then had a platinum album, five further top 10 singles, and a Sunday Times No6 best-selling book Sink Or Swim.
He has a particular soft spot for swing, and the crooning style that goes with it.
He said: “I love what Amy Winehouse did in reinventing 60s soul. The idea of crooning is something I like. I’m lucky that my training has allowed me to explore the range of my voice.
“The only other singer that’s doing that at the moment is Michael Buble. There’s only six or so specialists.”
So which is his favourite track from the show? After all it takes in music from Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Woody Herman and Buddy Rich.
Of course, he’s non committal, but offers this as a tempting tit-bit: “I’m a big fan of everything that Not King Cole did.
“Big band was something that lent itself well to his deep velvety voice.”
There’s good news then, for Darius fans – he’s also putting together a tour album to go with the show, so you can hear his own deep, velvety voice whenever you want to...
He’s busy promoting a musical tour which he’s producing himself, The History of the Big Bands, which visits Lincoln next month.
My slot was scheduled for 5.30pm, then tomorrow, than 4pm, 3pm, 2.30pm and 2.15pm, after he’d done a live broadcast. We settled for 3pm.
It sounds as though the likeable musical polymath is going through it a bit. But he confides that he really is living the dream.
Darius, who used to be Darius Danesh, said: “When I was 12 years old I was part of Scottish Opera in a children’s chorus and performed in the original production of The Trojans.
“Then I was a child actor in Carmen, which went to the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.
“When I was backstage I always remember what was behind the backdrop curtain.
“There was a space five times the size of the onstage area, and twice the size of a football pitch. It was filled with the stage props and staging from all the great operas – it was a bit like stepping into the other side of the wardrobe into Narnia for me.
“I remember feeling that I wanted to be part of all that.”
But Darius gave up a promising operatic career to study English literature at university, before exploding back onto the scene via Pop Idol and Popstar to Operastar.
His career has now come full circle with the chance to once again beguile the theatre audience.
“I always wanted to be involved in telling a great story. Whether that’s in a love song, acting in Shakespeare or in a West End musical, whatever it might be. It’s the spectacle.”
Having recently performed as Escamillo in Raymond Gubby’s vast production of Carmen at the O2 Arena, this is now Darius’s own chance to run the show.
He said: “I’m experiencing the challenge of producing a tour, which is really exciting.
“I want to transport the audience back to a different era.
“I’ll be reliving the big bands through the eyes of band leaders like Duke Ellington and Count Basie, and taking the audience on a journey through the work of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Nat King Cole. I am supported by big band performers who are among the best musicians in Europe. It’s not just a gig – it’s a show.”
Fans of Darius will know his range. He was Billy Flynn in Chicago, Sky Masterson in the Olivier Award-winning Guys and Dolls and Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind, all in the West End.
He wrote Colourblind, which went straight to No 1 after Pop Idol, then had a platinum album, five further top 10 singles, and a Sunday Times No6 best-selling book Sink Or Swim.
He has a particular soft spot for swing, and the crooning style that goes with it.
He said: “I love what Amy Winehouse did in reinventing 60s soul. The idea of crooning is something I like. I’m lucky that my training has allowed me to explore the range of my voice.
“The only other singer that’s doing that at the moment is Michael Buble. There’s only six or so specialists.”
So which is his favourite track from the show? After all it takes in music from Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Woody Herman and Buddy Rich.
Of course, he’s non committal, but offers this as a tempting tit-bit: “I’m a big fan of everything that Not King Cole did.
“Big band was something that lent itself well to his deep velvety voice.”
There’s good news then, for Darius fans – he’s also putting together a tour album to go with the show, so you can hear his own deep, velvety voice whenever you want to...
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