Mari Wilson continues to perform in cabaret at the Crazy Coqs, London
Mari Wilson continues at the Crazy Coqs, London until 12 July.
Anybody who does not know that Mari Wilson hails from Neasden could not be left in doubt for very long. Her cabaret set at the Crazy Coqs is littered with reference to her childhood years in the London suburb, sharing a room and a bed with the teenage sister who was obsessed with the Dusty Springfield look, helping her develop a love for the music of the era.
Wilson’s voice could have been tailor-made for exploring Springfield’s back catalogue, or the songs of Bacharach and David. And so it is in this evening of smooth lounge numbers. Starting off with her cover of ‘Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps’ – which brought Wilson renewed attention after being used as the theme for Steven Moffat’s BBC sitcom Coupling – Wilson and her musical director, John G Smith, deliver a series of pared down songs that showcase some of the era’s best songwriting.
That’s not to say that more modern songs are totally ignored, but they are presented in a similarly sultry sixties style. Such a treatment works well for The Pretenders’ ’Don’t Get Me Wrong’, the arrangement allowing the quality of Chrissie Hynde’s lyric writing to take centre stage. The slowing down from the original number’s pop tempo lends it a slightly more maudlin air than Hynde’s own guitar arrangement would suggest.
Indeed, several standards seem to be paced slightly slower than audiences may be used to. The laidback approach is generally not unwelcome by any means, but it does cast a rather subdued mood over the audience. Wilson is not one for scripted repartee between songs: one gets the impression that she is happy to talk just enough to drive the evening towards the next song. Which, when the singing is as good as this, is understandable.
Amongst the nostalgic numbers – from ’I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten’ and ‘Spooky’, to lesser-performed tunes such as the Beach Boys’ ‘Disney Girls’ and the Bee Gees’ ‘First of May’ – are a sprinkling of Wilson’s own writing. Having formed part of her musical The Love Thing, the themes of each number fit in with the sixties ethos to a T. The scenarios in each – a middle-aged woman struggling to get back on the dating scene (‘Hits and Misses’), taking the high ground when meeting a partner’s new girlfriend (‘Right For You’) and struggling with the signs of ageing (‘Forever Young’) – are often ripe material for comedic treatment. Here, instead, they are fundamentally touching, thoughtful numbers with flashes of wit that sit seamlessly alongside Bacharach and David songs.
And it is these new songs which give the second half of Wilson’s set a much-needed change of pace, injecting the occasional upbeat tempo in an evening of slower numbers. Nowhere is the dominance of a slow tempo more apparent than in Wilson’s attempt to get the audience to join in a singalong version of ‘Be My Baby’. Her plea for a little bit more oomph from her roomful of backing singers – “more Beyoncé, less Songs of Praise!” – would have been less necessary if some more of Wilson and Smith’s arrangements had a little more drive. But that’s a minor quibble for an evening where one gets to revel in piano playing and vocal performance that provides such an enjoyable evening of lounge classics.
Scott Matthewman
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