Stephen Sondheim Society presents… Alex Young and Friends – Phoenix Garden

Stephen Sondheim Society presents… Alex Young and Friends at the Phoenix Garden, London

Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Cram 75 Sondheim fans into a glorified garden shed in the shadow of the Phoenix Theatre on a freezing December night, put the delicious Alex Young on London’s tiniest stage and somehow you have the recipe for two hours of cabaret magic.

Whether she’s singing ‘I’m Breaking Down’ lying flat on the floor, climbing on a chair in a hilarious duet with musical director Joe Bunker for the Victoria Wood classic ‘The Ballad of Barry and Freda (Let’s Do It)’ or simply being her loveable self in ‘Once You Lose Your Heart’ from her most recent show Me and My Girl, Young is a force of nature.

Kicking off this Alex Young and Friends special in honour of Sondheim Society administrator Lynne Chapman who is retiring after 21 years at the helm, she even offered round homemade mince pies as she launched into ‘The Worst Pies in London’ in best Mrs Lovett cockney. Nothing ‘Worst’ about them!

It was an electric start to a joyous evening, From the first bar, Young had the audience in the palm of her hand and never let go. With her elastic, mobile facial expressions, Young is a sublime actress of songs, a very funny lady indeed and a fabulous all-round entertainer right up there with the best.

It is a shame she won’t be reprising her role as Imelda Staunton’s younger self in the upcoming revival of Follies (nor will Staunton, taking over are Joanna Riding and Gemma Sutton) but it’s time to move on and this versatile 2010 winner of the Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year is surely on the verge of big things.

She brought along two friends of rich talent, Debbie Kurup from their Anything Goes tour and Michael Peavoy, her predecessor as SSS Student Performer of the Year.

The Peavoy-Young ‘Hello, Little Girl’ double act as Wolf and Red Riding Hood from Into the Woods, complete with growl and menace, was as funny as hell and one of the night’s star turns.

Big-voiced Peavoy’s ‘Finishing The Hat’ from Sunday in the Park With George was also much admired as was Kurup’s take on Joni Mitchell’s evocative ‘River’ – “It’s coming on Christmas/They’re cutting down trees/They’re putting up reindeers/And singing songs of joy and peace.”

All this and so much more… ‘Our Time’ from Merrily We Roll Along; ‘Angel at the Top of the Tree’, Darren Clark’s runner-up for the Stiles and Drewe Best New Song prize in 2015; pop songs ‘Man With a Band’ and ‘Everybody’s Girl’ given a new twist; the 1953 Christmas song ‘Santa Baby’ made famous by Eartha Kitt; and ‘I’d Give It All For You’ from Jason Robert Brown’s Songs For a New World.

What a feast of songwriting, a superbly chosen mix of Sondheim, newer songwriters and old favourites, and my only complaint is that they sang too loudly for such a small space.

Jeremy Chapman