Marisha Wallace – Live in London (Westway Music, Center Stage Records).
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Recorded live at the Adelphi Theatre in March 2025 and produced by Ben Robbins and Marisha Wallace herself, Live in London is the actress and singer’s third album release. It celebrates the story of her life to date, incorporating anecdotes about her personal joys and struggles, and including some of the biggest West End and Broadway hits she has been a part of along the way.
It’s not unusual for a theatre star to present a solo concert, or indeed record it for a live album, but Wallace sets herself apart with this set list, thanks to each song’s carefully selected relevance to a period in her life. The narrative is cohesive and dynamic, moving swiftly through Wallace’s early life and childhood experiences with emotive and effective narration.
She recalls growing up in the church with her mother who was a pastor, an interlude supported by ‘Mysterious Ways’ from The Color Purple. An outstanding Whitney Houston medley is preceded by a story about how she listened to the likes of Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan and Whitney on the radio, under her bedcovers at night, since the church’s focus was purely on gospel music.
Wallace also shares some of the difficult experiences in her life, from the discovery of nodes on her vocal cords to her turbulent early marriage (alongside a poignant performance of ‘My Man’ from Funny Girl), giving a glimpse into her world before she rose to theatrical fame.
There is no shortage of some of Wallace’s best-loved and most outstanding work on this album, particularly ‘And I Am Telling You’ from her time as Effie White in Dreamgirls, and ‘I Didn’t Plan It’, a throwback to her role as Becky in Waitress.
The additional context of her personal life at the times she was playing these roles make her performances even more moving and add an extra dimension to already well-loved pieces.
Lucie Jones and Laura Baldwin, the Jenna and Dawn to Wallace’s Becky during the Waitress run, also join her on stage for a “Waitress-reunion-at-the-Adelphi” pie and their stunningly delicate rendition of ‘A Soft Place to Land’ must surely have had the entire audience in tears.
Ending on a heartwarming and hopeful note with ‘I Know Where I’ve Been’, from her run as Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray, and the title song from her current role as Sally Bowles in Cabaret, Wallace has knocked it out of the park with this phenomenal concert and album.
Her personable, conversational delivery and vocal quality are sublime as ever, accentuating the brilliance we have come to know and love from her. Truly more of a personal memoir than simply a discography of theatre contracts, Live in London is collectively some of Wallace’s best work to date.
Sorcha Exworthy
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