Dave Willetts performed at the Crazy Coqs, London.
An Evening With Dave Willetts was performed at the Crazy Coqs, London.
Singer and actor Dave Willetts presented his cabaret evening at the Crazy Coqs to a sell-out audience.
The performer’s career in musical theatre spans 25 years, during which he has starred in a host of major shows. He also holds the distinction of being the first person in the world to have played the leading roles in both Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera. An achievement he marked by including a medley from these shows in his programme.
The roles that he has portrayed over the years have encouraged him to give big performances that enable him to belt out a song. And it has to be said that there were occasions in Willetts’ act when his powerful singing did not sit comfortably with the intimacy of the venue. It was in the quieter numbers that he was at his best.
The choice of his material fell under two headings – his life story in music, and songs from shows that he wished he had been in. Between numbers, he engaged the audience with affable banter and explanations of the connections and reasons for their selection. Recalling childhood memories of family sing-songs around the piano, he launched into a Jolson medley. Talking of the time he sang his children to sleep was the cue for a beautiful version of ‘Lullaby in Ragtime’. This was matched with a delightful ‘I’ll See You in My Dreams’ laced with gentle comic touches.
Willetts has a distinctive voice and was not afraid to bring his own interpretations to well-known songs. He managed to bring a freshness to ‘Tomorrow’ from Annie – a sweetness that was not cloying.
Turning to humour, he recounted how an ignorance regarding the suitability as to the choice of a number for his first audition – a part in an am-dram production of The King and I – led him to take the stage with a full beard and guitar to deliver Buddy Holly’s ‘It Doesn’t Matter Anymore’. However, it still got him the part and launched his career.
In choosing numbers associated with his heroes, he sang ‘I’ve Got You Under my Skin’ – a song that he had duetted on with Sammy Davis Jr. A selection of songs associated with Howard Keel followed a bizarre tale of being involved with the scattering of Keel’s ashes in Torquay.
Moving away from the world of musical theatre, he slipped into the persona of Neil Diamond for a lively medley that had the audience singing along.
But it was to the world of the stage that he returned for the finale – Jerry Herman’s rousing anthem ‘I Am What I Am’. A great finish to a very amiable evening.
Barrie Jerram
11.09.2013
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