The Stage

The Show Providers

Published Wednesday 26 July 2006 at 15:50 by Derek Smith

Light entertainment showcases within the M25 have been a rare sight recently so it made a welcome change to head for this Wayne Denton and John Mills Show Providers production, taking place just down the runway from Heathrow Airport.

The suitably named BA Concorde Club initially felt cavernous and even a little sterile but once the venue had filled up and the entertainment was in full swing it seemed well suited, certainly for larger productions.

On the night, four very different shows - with a multi-role cast of 20 - ensured that the pace never flagged, the first, West End in Concert, having potentially the widest appeal for most suburban audiences. Just how much you pack into a big show showcase slot is always tricky but the balance here was just about right, even if at times you felt the cast worked very hard to build the atmosphere of a specific show, only to switch to another just for the sake of variety. The initial selection of rousing standards from Miss Saigon and South Pacific, then some nicely executed musical ‘misery’ from Les Miserables was surely enough to satisfy most popular musical fans. But with the cast clearly intent on showing their complete range, less successful fusions of music and dance followed, before the inevitable crowd pleasers for the older generations, like the Lambeth Walk and all. Four or five great numbers from a couple of shows would have offered better focus and a better West End experience but as musical snapshots go, most were still perfectly entertaining here.

It may be a cliche, but the second section, Flashback, really did offer something for everyone, be they retro rockers, soul fans or just all-round wallowers in nostalgia. Whatever floats their boats musically, most will find something here to get hands clapping, from the tight sounding opening girl group numbers - the Chiffons’ Sweet Talking Guy, Lipstick On Your Collar, Stupid Cupid et al - right through to ever-genial compere Steve Walls donning the tartan and flares as a Bay City Roller and the excellent Maddie Cole belting out Kate Bush’s brilliant Wuthering Heights. In between the fast-moving set, some costumes did get a bit ragged, the final Queen section being more football chant than musical tribute. And while some dance routines didn’t quite work, enough did for choreographer Natalie Cleverley to be well pleased with her day’s work. Patchy in parts maybe but this ensemble really worked their bobby socks off to entertain and when you have a female singer as impressive, in all her guises, as Kate Ashby in your ranks you can’t go far wrong, her every appearance on stage instantly raising the vocal standard.

The Red Hot Country show, on the other hand, looks a much more specialised affair, at least on paper. No doubt conscious that hardcore country music isn’t everyone’s can of fried beans, this show basically waters down the genre in various ways - some successful, some not. As hard as he tried, the comic impressions of Christopher Gee, ranging from Noel Coward through to Sean Connery and Billy Connolly - seemed strangely out of place. But as always with impressionists, among the duds was a few gems. The section did have two stand-out highlights though. The first was Show Providers’ own Wayne Denton as John Denver. Here was a impressive tribute, complete with blond locks and hat, a fine version of Country Roads being an illustration of the strong individual talents of this toe-tapping troupe. A longer set from Denton would have been very welcome. The other highlight was the duelling banjos set piece starring the stunning chord picking of the full-on Sarah Jory. A real crowd pleaser of a routine, Jory clearly the total, committed performer.

Three shows down, which left just the bill-topping Drifters. With the previous shows having been too lengthy by the time this famously named, slickly presented foursome took to the stage, the audience had thinned out and as good as this set was, a good many more decided to call it a night. Had the Drifters been second or third on, they would have easily raised the roof, because this was nothing like the maybe jaded ‘tribute act’ expected. It was immaculately presented, the moves of the alternating three ‘backing’ singers impressively precise and the lead vocals of Roy G Hemmings and his Motown mates a thoroughly uplifting experience. All the original Drifters’ back catalogue is the backbone here plus a few updated numbers, the group plugging its new CD and its upcoming Five Decades and Moore World Tour 2006. On this evidence, this is a group not just living in the past, more like revelling in it and wise enough to mix nostalgia with new material. It’s a tactic which might just attract a whole new audience.