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For the fans: An Evening Without Kate Bush at Underbelly Boulevard

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I’m not a fan of Kate Bush. But as Sarah-Louise Young in her show An Evening Without Kate Bush says, that’s ok. She appears, initially illuminated only by a red lamp, dressed in black, and moving across the stage in the style of Kate Bush. Or given that I’m not a fan or that familiar with her works, what I would assume Kate Bush might do if she had full run of the Underbelly Boulevard theatre. It’s evocative and a little bit funny. But soon it becomes clear that this is a show for the fans of anything out there. Be they Kate Bush fish (what the fans call themselves), friends of fish or foes. Ultimately, it’s a show about how music is often the soundtrack to our lives, capturing the spirit of being a performer, a fan and being alive. It’s currently playing at the Underbelly Boulevard .  This wasn’t my first evening without Kate Bush. A little over four years ago, I saw Ms Young writhe about the stage, gaze at the audience, and drag the odd audience member on stage as she recounted h...

Smooth operator: How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying @wiltonsmusichall


It feels a little like a high school musical with its clunky sets and actors cast in roles too old for them. But I still found How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at Wiltons Music Hall a lot of fun. Part of its fun is the memorable performance by Marc Pickering as the ambitious young executive.

Here you get the impression he is relying less on boyish charm and more on being sly and cunning to get ahead. Given the space of Wiltons he can look you in the eye and let you know he is out to get what he wants.  He also gives the classic songs in the show a fresh interpretation that feels as if they should be on an album.



It's tempting to dismiss the show about lustful executives and secretaries out to nab a man as sexist and dated. But the book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser doesn't take the period too  seriously. It is constantly poking fun of the early sixties life it is depicting.

As love interest and wily secretary Rosemary, Hannah Grover is sweet. Maisey Bawden, who wowed Palladium audiences getting "fricky fricky" in Honeymoon in Vegas last month shows spunk in her roles. Gerri Allen who gets the comic timing and mood of the show right as the streetwise secretary, Smitty.

The band under the musical direction of Ben Ferguson also sounded terrific.

It also helps after its "been a long day" to sit down and enjoy a show like this for its pure escapism. It's more fun than the Robert Morse film only because all the numbers remain in it (for better or worse). Only the lugging of furniture across the set... Or some of the attempts to choreograph big numbers with a small cast... Bring things crashing down to reality.

Directed by Benji Sperring, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is at Wiltons Music Hall until 22 April.

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎


Photos by Darren Bell

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