Spotlight
Performance Review
Belair House, London- June 2003
For
those who consider a journey south across the Thames means deserting
civilization, this venue will come as a welcome surprise. Set in lush
parkland, the elegant house features an excellent restaurant where dinner
can be enjoyed before ascending to the cabaret room, itself a charming and
intimate space, seating approximately sixty.
Ian
Mowat is a high-energy performer and he rattles through his wide-ranging
repertoire at quite a pace. Accompanied by Nathan Lane, the show opened
with Charles Anavour’s ‘The Sound of Your Name’. Mowat’s bright
tenor, tempered with just enough vibrato, is well suited to this song and
indeed Aznavour is clearly a Mowat favourite as he immediately followed
this opening number with another of his compositions, the very demanding
‘It’ll Be My Day’. It’s pleasing that new audiences are being
introduced to the Aznavour canon; his work is seriously underrated in this
country, though the American cabaret cognoscenti have long been aware of
his qualities as a songwriter. French songs often lose a great deal in
translation, but Aznavour’s choice of highly gifted lyricists such as
Herbert Kretzmer, make his songs work in both languages.
Mowat’s
show is largely autobiographical, revealing with a great deal of good
humour and no little self-deprecation the trials and tribulations of
trying to make it in the West End. ‘I Wanna Sing a Show Tune’ is
delivered with utter commitment, therefore, and stories of how Mowat
brought himself to the attention of the show business power-brokers,
including spoof answering machine songs for Cameron McIntosh’s benefit,
pepper the evening and give the show a pleasing shape and direction.
It’s
not all up-front energy and comedy, however, for Mowat can convey a ballad
from the crook of the piano with as much charm and control as the next
man. An entrancing Scottish ballad ‘Summer of
My Dreams’ was followed by a third Aznavour composition, ‘And I
in My Chair’, sung with such delicacy and poignancy and beautifully
supported by Nathan Lane’s intricate accompaniment,
that it provided the highlight of the night.
Mowat provides contrast and smooth transitions between moods in his show, even closing the first half with a rousing piece of audience participation, complete with props, hunting horn and words for the crowd. His energy and commitment are infectious and anyone who catches his show will feel they’ve had full measure.