C’mon and Hear – Steve Ross continues at The Pheasantry, London until 23 September.
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The last time the Prince of New York cabaret hit town at the end of January, he had to cancel two of his three Pheasantry shows, that distinctive voice rendered powerless by bronchitis.
No such problems on this return visit with a different show, this one, C’mon and Hear, devoted to the work of Irving Berlin, son of a Russian cantor who wrote 1,500 songs in a 60-year career, wrote 20 original Broadway musicals and lived to be 101, so Ross is not short of material.
From ‘Alexander’s Ragtime Band’ in 1911 which started a craze for a new style of music to ‘Let’s Go Back to the Waltz’ in the 1962 musical Mr President, Ross guides us through the pick of Berlin’s vast repertoire in two hours of pure gold.
Not just the endless hits and love songs but vivid anecdotes of priceless Jewish humour. This is never better exemplified than in ‘Cohen Owes Me 97 Dollars’, a wickedly funny early Berlin that prompted the thought: who is going to keep these lesser-known gems alive once Ross and his piano leave the stage.
The debonair Ross turns 80 next year but you would never guess it. He still weaves his keyboard magic in a full-power piano medley from Annie Get Your Gun (what a great score) and while the voice is limited, it was never what his groupies went to see him for, it was to tap into his exceptional knowledge and to learn at the feet of a master.
Surely nobody else in modern-day cabaret knows more songs or can put them over so entertainingly. This is a well-crafted, utterly satisfying evening that ends on a poignant but topical note with the anthemic ‘God Bless America’ which Berlin wrote for the wartime musical This is the Army.
The romantic ballads Berlin wrote for Fred Astaire and Top Hat are particularly lovingly interpreted because Astaire is Ross’ model and favourite.
Neither is/was famed for his voice, but Astaire had his dancing, Ross his piano for the lion’s share of a talent. In Ross’ hands, the piano often seems to take off into a life of its own. They both let the words speak for themselves, and do/did everything with charm and style.
One man, one piano (a good move to place it centre-stage with Ross face-on to his audience), 30 or so Berlin songs, no backing group, it’s sheer bliss.
You don’t get short-changed with Ross. Many modern cabaret performers bring along a guest to give themselves a break in a show that will still run only 75 minutes, not a trend to be encouraged. It takes a grand old trouper to show them up.
Jeremy Chapman
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