Julian Ovenden continues at at Live at Zédel, London until 14 February.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
There’s not much that the multi-talented Julian Ovenden cannot do. TV audiences will know him from Downton Abbey and, before that, Foyle’s War. He’s played two Kennedys, JFK in SMASH and Robert in The Crown.
Musical theatre lovers went to Paris to see him in the lead role in Sunday in the Park With George at the Chatelet. London audiences got an eyeful when he stripped down for My Night With Reg. Moviegoers remember him in the 2016 Second World War film Allies.
Opera trained and married to opera singer Kate Royal, he has sung with many of the world’s leading orchestras and made a couple of solo albums. And that’s not even the half of it.
He can play a whole host of instruments and demonstrates his piano skills on ‘How Deep is Your Love’ as he wraps up his cool Live at Zédel show as he turns his hand to yet another musical avenue, cabaret, in a four-night residency.
Ovenden uses his flawless tenor in a jazzy set to breathe new life into classic material such as ‘Hallelujah, I Love Him So’, ‘I Didn’t Know What Time It Was’, ‘Here You Come Again’, ‘I Could Have Danced All Night’ and ‘The Most Beautiful Girl in the World’.
Elvis, the Bee Gees and Ray Charles all get a look-in and ‘Always On My Mind’ is particularly appreciated in a diverse collection which majors on love ballads for Valentine’s week.
Sounding at times a bit like Sinatra – but much better looking, my wife tells me – and backed by a band of four, Tom Cawley on piano, Al Cherry with some superb guitar work, Simon Lea on drums and Sam Burgess on bass, he smooths and charms his way through 70 minutes of high-quality musicianship that passes all too quickly.
Jeremy Chapman
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