The Hall is alive…
The Royal Albert Hall at Christmas. Those six words suggest something special and unique. Last Wednesday was the tenth edition of Guy Barker’s Big Band Christmas which promised a “swinging, soulful celebration of big band music…with special guests.” With shows like these trumpeted from high heaven, you also need a compere with charisma who can piece it all together and offer something themselves. Step forward Clare Teal who revelled in the role as well as being an excellent singer herself.
The roll call of special guests, who Barker produced one by one like another rabbit out of his mercurial hat, included singers Naomi Banks, Tommy Blaise, Vanessa Haynes, Clarke Peters, pianists Tom Ward and Joe Stilton who also sang and clarinetist Jacqueline Smith, each one bringing a different vibe and presence. There were so many highlights and the eclectic instrumental medley that got it all going, which had several well-known Carols and Christmas songs had the audience humming along. Particular favourites for me were Naomi Banks who gave a teasing rendition of You’re a Mean One Mr Grinch, a song that requires character as well as flexible vocals and Joe Stilgoe’s Putting on the Ritz, was everything you would expect from a song like that, pizazz and razzmatazz in abundance.
Back in the festive groove Tommy Blaise and Joe Stilgoe combined in a sparkling “Bojangles” style interpretation of Jingle Bells, and Clare Teal gave us a an emotionally charged There’s Gonna Be a Great Day. But for me the icing on a delicious musical cake was how Peters, Ward and Smith combined in a brilliant Hidey Hidey Hidey Ho, playful and comedic and musically superb, it received an ecstatic response. But the final word must go to Barker and the band, who are great entertainers, and that all came to fruition in the finale with every performer now involved in producing an unforgettable Ray Charles’s What’d I Say. Incredible vocals and dancers in the aisles and on stage doing the jive. A big high five to them all. Yes, the Hall was alive with the sound of big band entertainment. They’ll be back next year!
The Royal Shakespeare Company’s acclaimed production of Twelfth Night has been brought from Stratford-upon-Avon to the Barbican. It’s a comedy with more serious possibilities, which is appropriate for our times when there is the hint of ‘misrule’ and a confused social order, not to mention the relationships resulting from cross-dressing….after all, Shakespeare gave it an additional name – ‘What You Will’. In this production, the comedy is uppermost.
The stage reflects the initial mood, which is sombre, when Viola, the steely young survivor of a shipwreck, arrives. She is mourning her presumed-drowned twin brother and decides to pretend to be a young man to gain employment in the strange Court of Count Orsino. Within the Court circle, the aristocrat Olivia, also in mourning, is surrounded by a drunken group of wastrels.
The resulting attractions, rivalries and disappointments upend the conventions and drive the action. How can Olivia’s sudden passion for Viola, the boy/girl, be safely resolved? How can Viola, a new servant, pretending to be a man, cope with the attraction she feels for the aristocratic Count? Feste, the clown-like jester, an anarchic presence, links the development of the emotional relationships with the verbal and sometimes slapstick comedy provided by feisty servants, drunks, and Olivia’s pompous steward, Malvolio.
The sudden safe return of Viola’s lost twin, Sebastian, brings confusion but also allows a happy resolution of the awkward relationships. As usual in Shakespeare’s comedies, it ends well for most, apart from the expulsion of the sad old drunks and the degradation of haughty Malvolio. Samuel West as Malvolio, Gwyneth Keyworth as Viola and Freema Ageyman as Olivia, all perform brilliantly, whilst Michael Grady-Hall as Feste provides a joyous comedic link throughout, sometimes whilst flying! This production is not set in any particular period of time, and delights in an eclectic range of costumes.
Strangely, a large church organ forms the dramatic stage set for much of the action and contributes to the occasional excellent songs (by Matt Maltese). Overall, a marvellous evening.
Happy Christmas and New Year everyone!
Royal Albert Hall – www.royalalberthall.com
Twelfth Night – www.barbican.org.uk
Photo credit: Andy Paradise/Royal Albert Hall
