Jamie Muscato – Live 2024 (Westway Music).
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Jamie Muscato has released his debut album – a collection of musical theatre, soul, pop and rock tracks recorded live at his 2024 Cadogan Hall concert.
Muscato’s performance CV is extensive; he is currently leading the cast of The Great Gatsby as Jay Gatsby, and was previously seen in as Anatole in Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (for which he received the Olivier Award Nomination for Best Actor in a Musical), Christian in Moulin Rouge!, Enjolras in Les Misérables – The Staged Concert, Tony in West Side Story and originated the role of JD in Heathers in the UK, to name but a few.
Muscato packs this breadth of experience and more into his concert set list, including throwbacks to some of his own experience (‘Freeze Your Brain’ from Heathers and ‘Left Behind’ from Spring Awakening) as well as some classic musical theatre standards (Rodgers and Hammerstein’s ‘My Favourite Things’ and Sondheim and Bernstein’s ‘Something’s Coming’).
What really sets this album apart though is the variety of other genres Muscato includes and the original stamp he places on each of the related tracks. I did not expect a rendition of Taylor Swift’s ‘Cruel Summer’ but it’s there, it’s totally unique, and it’s excellent.
The nature of the live recording also means parts of his dialogue from the night of the concert are captured, adding even more personality and background to some of the choices. Muscato introduces a rocky, bass-y version of ‘Part of Your World’ from The Little Mermaid with the comment: “Have you ever wondered what a Disney song would sound like if it was written by Busted? Well, I have, so here’s this.” It is this playfulness, curiosity and sheer range of vocal skill that make him such an excellent entertainer and top class performer.
Muscato is also joined on stage by two of his former co-stars during the concert, firstly Laura Jane Matthewson (Dogfight). The two re-create their version of ‘First Date/Last Night’ from the show. Later on he teams up with a more recent co-star, Tanisha Spring, from his run in Moulin Rouge!, for a beautiful rendition of ‘Shallow’ from A Star is Born, followed by ‘Your Song’ and ‘Come What May’.
Reflecting on his concert and this subsequent collection, Muscato has said: “I wanted to capture the true essence of those performances: the spontaneous energy, the audience’s reactions, and the incredible improvisations from the band under the direction of Sam Young. I really think we bottled the magic of that room” – and I couldn’t agree more.
Sorcha Exworthy
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