The album launch/showcase for Sophie Evans and Lauren Samuels’ album Chasing Rainbows, Finding Judy took place at Proud Cabaret, London.
Not so much a jewel on the Nile, more a treasure on the Thames, the Proud Cabaret venue is a wonderful oasis of kitsch cabaret and calm that, instantly you enter, transports you a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of Waterloo Bridge.
Ideal then for this decidedly relaxed official launch of the first release from new label, Alpha Music & Records, part of Alpha Solutions. Just how do you go about reinventing the iconic sound of Judy Garland though? It’s certainly not a project for the faint-hearted. Well, you take two talented female vocalists – Sophie Evans and Lauren Samuels – each with a genuine passion for Garland’s iconic songbook and who clearly spark creatively off each other, whose Judy genes and enthusiasm for the Garland cause go right back to when they first found fame having met on the BBC show Over The Rainbow, both making it to the final of The Wizard of Oz-themed talent search.
Then you add to the musical mix, Grammy-nominated producer James McMillan, given perhaps the dubious honour of trying to record ‘Over the Rainbow’ in a whole new way. A potential poisoned creative chalice if ever there was. Trouble is, you can’t really improve on the original, maybe update it a tad and freshen it up for a younger fan base.
Opening with a feisty medley of ‘Together’ and ‘Trolley Song’, before covering ‘The Rainbow’s End’, the audience was really holding its breath for just one song, ‘Over the Rainbow’, of course. By Samuels and Evans’ version of that, the rest of this performance, CD and whole venture would be judged.
When it came, it shied away from being radically different, that may have ended in tears. Instead, first Evans then Samuels each brought impressive vocal passion, doing McMillan’s fresh, initially sombre, slow-paced then increasingly uplifting version full justice.
“It’s a more modern version and about reaching out to a younger audience but still staying true to the spirit of MGM,” Samuels told Musical Theatre Review.
As for the showcase, it was short and pretty sweet. A few more numbers would have nice, but to use that ancient show business adage, ‘always leave them wanting more’.
A lot more, 14 tracks actually, can be found on the Chasing Rainbows, Finding Judy CD and the first single from the album,’ The Rainbow’s End’ has just been released. For my money (in truth I was given a free copy), that’s a good call as it’s among the stand-out tracks on a CD which features enough solo numbers to add essential variation and more bite. There’s also the bonus of a lovely version of Lionel Bart’s ‘As Long As He Needs Me’.
Talking of lovely, a word of praise for the immaculately presented venue also seems apt. Proud Cabaret’s monthly lunchtime bottomless cocktail hour complete with drag show looks an absolute hoot and a must for the diary. Highballs and high heels – what’s not to like!
Derek Smith
SHARE THIS POST:
Comments are closed.