Spotlight
Performance Review
Jermyn Street Theatre, London - August 2001
Enda Markey is one performer who has tried out the theatre, on this occasion for his London cabaret debut, although half way through he announced that he wouldn’t be doing it again in a hurry! The audience would all have agreed that it would be a shame if he didn’t make a return to the stage in the near future, however, despite a few glitches that beset an otherwise endearing appearance.
Whilst some of Enda’s anxieties about performing in this genre were all too apparent during a fair part of the show, by the end he had relaxed sufficiently to appreciate that communicating one’s love of the material is the secret to capturing the audience’s heart. Enda presents a wide and at times adventurous repertoire, and should be congratulated on including several lesser-known songs to good effect. Highlights included a touching rendition of ‘Anyone Can Whistle’, with a particularly moving ending, as well as two songs by the seriously underrated British composer Richard Kates. Of these, Enda’s take on ‘I’ve Never Been in a Show by Andrew Lloyd Webber’ was well-handled. His capacity for endearing himself to his listeners with charm and just a touch of self-deprecation was happily discovered by his audience and perhaps points the direction in which to go when developing his act.
On reflection, Enda may decide that some of the material selected was less suitable for this venue and for his particular talents: ‘Don’t Cry Out Loud’ stands out as particularly incongruous, too big for this space and a song that seems to ask to be granted its perverse wish to be cried out all too loud whenever people sing it. Better perhaps to explore further the work of composers such as Tom Andersen, whose ‘Yard Sale’ provided one of the quieter and ultimately more satisfying moments of the evening. Tom Andersen and others are extremely generous in sharing their songs with fellow artists and this would help him and others avoid falling into traps such as performing ‘Send in the Clowns’, sung wonderfully that same week round the corner by Barbara Cook, but hardly appropriate for so young and new a performer as Enda.
With just as wide but a more appropriate choice of material, sung in his warm and expressive lower register, more focused direction and genuine communication between him and his accompanist, Enda could develop an act to delight and entrance cabaret audiences for years to come.