Stacy Sullivan performs her show It’ a Good Day – A Tribute to Peggy Lee at the Crazy Coqs, London
Stacy Sullivan performs her show It’s a Good Day – A Tribute to Peggy Lee at the Crazy Coqs, London until 2 August.
Returning for a second time after her highly acclaimed debut at this venue last year, Stacy Sullivan pays homage to musical legend Peggy Lee. And she delivers what it says on the tin – a tribute and not a slavish imitation – as she brings her own interpretation to Lee’s famous canon, yet never losing the great lady’s style.
Sullivan proves to be a fine raconteur as well as an exciting singer, as she intersperses the songs with snippets of Lee’s life story, telling of her musical and personal struggles. These anecdotes are delivered with simplicity, freshness and affection.
In an 80-minute set the audience are treated to 17 numbers, many penned by Lee and her husband of nine years, guitarist Dave Barbour, as well as a couple of encores. Despite their divorce, Lee always hoped that they would reunite, and her feelings are reflected in the wistful ‘Johnny Guitar’ which Sullivan delivers with great emotion.
‘Baubles, Bangles and Beads’ was Sullivan’s Hollywood audition piece. She contrasts the naive delivery that she used then with a rousing version a la Lee. More humour comes when she teases the audience with a finger clicking intro that has the audience anticipating ’Fever’. Instead, it switches to a sultry ‘Cheek to Cheek’ with male members of the audience being serenaded and, in one case, danced with.
Jon Webber provides excellent piano accompaniment and is heard at his best adding stride playing to the lively ‘You Was Right Baby’. In contrast the gentle ‘Angels On Your Pillow’ echoes the phrase with which Lee always signed off family letters.
Her set contains many delights with moods changing from wistful to emotional and dramatic – all of which benefit from skills honed as a successful actress. But for me the highlight is ‘Where Did They Go’ – a number whose verses of gentle sweet memories veer into a harsh anguished chorus of loss, evoking both Kurt Weill and Edith Piaf.
The evening would not have been complete without ‘Fever’ and it comes as one of the encores, much to the delight of the audience. Sullivan’s performance is so intoxicating that perhaps ‘Black Coffee’ should have been on the menu.
Barrie Jerram
www.brasseriezedel.com/crazy-coqs
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