A great evening of musical entertainment
Legendary Divas Performed by Ali Harper with Michael Nicholas Williams Circa Theatre, until August 20 Reviewed by Ewen Coleman For any performer to cover the styles and range of the countless female singers from the past decades is a big ask, yet somehow the ever-talented and accomplished Ali Harper goes a long way to achieving this in her show Legendary Divas, currently playing at Circa Studio.
Harper’s many years of experience in musical theatre and cabaret shines through in this show, as she is the consummate performer, confident and grounded, yet full of life and energy.
Her ability to be able to move from one style and genre of song to another at the hitting of a note is quite extraordinary.
In between brackets of Motown songs and a 1980s medley, we get the crooning of a Doris Day song and the jazz renditions of Judy Garland songs.
And in contrast to much of the show’s light-heartedness, are Don’t Cry for Me Argentina and Send In the Clowns, performed as good as any of the many famous cover versions.
But no show of this nature would be complete without belting out some Shirley Bassey renditions from her James Bond films, yet it is the touching and very poignant Edith Piaf number Hymn to Love that is the real showstopper and again shows the depth and versatility of Harper as a singer.
In between songs, she chats with the audience in a low key, yet engaging way about the singers, with little snippets of their lives that are often enlightening. It also adds much to the intimacy of the Circa venue and takes the audience into the heart of her performance.
There is also a very amusing interlude with an audience member that exemplifies Harper’s ability to wonderfully work an audience.
A nice touch at the end was to recognise all the great female singers who have died over the years, with a montage of their pictures as a tribute to their legendary diva status.
Adding much to the success of Harper’s performance is pianist Michael Nicholas Williams, who unobtrusively accompanies Harper throughout, to make this a great evening of musical entertainment.