Anastacia McCleskey in Close to You – Bacharach Reimagined at the Criterion Theatre, London. Picture: Roy Tan
Close to You – Bacharach Reimagined continues at the Criterion Theatre, London until 10 January 2016.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
Close to You is the new name for What’s It All About?, the celebration of the catalogue of legendary pop composer Burt Bacharach (and his lyricist-collaborator Hal David) that fellow Musical Theatre Review reviewer Craig Glenday drooled over at the Menier Chocolate Factory in the summer.
Nothing much has changed apart from a spurious 20-minute interval that interrupts the flow of what was an all-action 90 minutes at the Menier and the fact that I can find only four stars for it (to Craig’s five) is simply a question of musical tastes.
The formulaic lurve songs of Bacharach, absurdly successful and tuneful though they were, interested this earnest youth far less than the protest movement led by Bob Dylan and the more cerebral work of folk-pop duo Simon and Garfunkel.
Now transferred from the 150-seater Menier to the underground 588-seater Criterion, Kyle Riabko’s respectful arrangements of 33 examples of Bacharach’s genius that produced nine No. 1 chart-toppers continues to please and should run and run. And please not only nostalgia-seekers with greying locks and expanding stomachs, but the young Canadian and his team of seven singer-musicians have a more important role as torch-bearers for a new generation who may previously have dismissed BB as elevator muzak, easy listening but of no great value.
On a cluttered, crowded set, replete with banks of guitars, sofas and an odd assortment of lampshades, mismatching chairs and a dartboard, not unlike a tiny Greenwich Village apartment I visited in the early 1970s – quite a creation by designers Christine Jones and Brett J Banakis – they give us a cosy concert rather than a full-on musical.
There are linking themes but no actual story or dialogue, and what songs they are. If I list ‘Anyone Who Had a Heart’, ‘Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head’, ‘I Say a Little Prayer’, ‘I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself’, ‘Magic Moments’, ‘Always Someone There to Remind Me’, ‘Walk On By’ and ‘What’s New, Pussycat?’ (not forgetting the title song), they are only the tip of an exceptional and enduring output.
Bacharach knew exactly what the public wanted and gave it to them over and over again with 48 Top Ten hits and more than 70 songs that reached the Top 40. Who knows how many millions he made for Dionne Warwick and Cilla Black, to name just two, or how many more millions they made for him?
Only in America could Riabko be nominated for an Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical award for a show in which he does everything but act. He’s down in the programme as co-conceiver, arranger and music director, and of course he’s also the lead singer, although it’s the distinctively smoky soul vocals of Anastacia McCleskey, from Nashville, that most people will take away with them into the night.
Daniel Bailen, Greg Coulson, Stephanie McKean, James Williams and the excellent, ever-on-the-go Renato Paris are the others responsible for a warm, gentle evening that never puts a foot wrong.
I was lucky enough to be actually onstage, one of the paying audience seated in one of the sofas and armchairs scattered round the edges of the revolving working area to represent people enjoying the party.
Apart from being the envy of the out-front folk paying almost double for their seats, this was a special experience we can bore dinner guests with for years to come. Not as noisy as you might expect, hugely comfortable and some bargain at under £30.
Jeremy Chapman
Readers may also be interested in:
Bacharach musical Close to You – new images and teaser video released – News
Kyle Riabko on the inspiration behind Bacharach Remagined – Interview
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