RICHARD SWERRUN IN CABARET
REVIEW
The New Theatre, Hull
Friday 15 June 2001
Having battled torrential rain, thunder storms and horrendous tail backs on the motorway, mother and I finally arrived at the New Theatre in Hull just fifteen minutes before the show was due to begin, however, we were to discover afterwards, we weren't the only ones who had only just made it in time for the show, it seems most of the usual supporters who were there had only just made it in time along with Richard himself!
Richard opened the show with the intro to "Over The Rainbow" before making his entrance to a very warm welcome. Wearing his trademark black waistcoat, trousers and jacket he looked fabulous! Singing "Let Me Entertain You" from the show "Gypsy", he soon had the attention of the audience, on the other hand , it could have been the suggestive movements that did it, following that with a medley of songs with a magic/devil connection he included the classic "That Old Devil Moon". We were also treated to a number called "I Loved A Girl" which was Richard's audition piece leading to his first musical "Y", somehow, you couldn't help but wonder if he was singing from experience with him putting so much emotion into it, then moving on from there, he told us about how he was growing up with his father listening to Chopin and other great composers, while on the other hand, his mother was listening to the likes of Shirley Bassey, so while other kids were going out and buying Michael Jackson's "Rocky Robin", the young Richard was buying Glen Miller and this was his gentle way of easing the audience into a haunting rendition of "Laura". Being a Barry Manilow fan, I always said the guy could come on stage and sing nursery rhymes and I'd applaud him, little did I think I would actually see a grown man do exactly on stage, but Richard being Richard he did just that! Wanting to cover a whole spectrum of musical tastes for the young and old alike, he made himself comfortable in the chair and began to sing "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and with the music taking on a more sinister tone went on to do "Teddy Bears Picnic" followed by the beautiful "Hushabye Mountain", which went down really well. Other highlights of the evening included a bit of funk in the form of the Oleta Adams Number "Circle Of One" and Richard trying his hand at a spot of operetta, will Gilbert & Sullivan ever be the same again we ask ourselves? I sincerely doubt it because he really jazzed up the piece he was doing! Also wanting to prove that sometimes the leading ladies in musicals have the best songs, Richard told us not to read anything into him switching gender (as if we would!) to sing "I Have A Love" from "West Side Story" and the Judy Garland classic "The Man That Got Away", mind you, when you think about it the leading ladies really do have all the best numbers, but it was the timeless "How High Is The Sky, How Deep Is The Ocean" that left a lump in this music lovers throat, what with the blend of Richard's wonderful voice and Simon Fricker's piano interlude, I was close to tears! To end with, we had a Lennon & McCartney medley which comprised of every song they'd ever written, seeing as it was impossible to single out just or two songs from their impressive catalogue and this brought the majority of the audience to their feet and to close the show, Richard chose for his encore "Over The Rainbow" saying there was a message in the words if you listened to them carefully and before you knew it, he was gone and it was time to head for home.
By Helen Jones
