Musical Direction by Stephen Kreamer – Directed by
Bobby Fox – Produced by Drew Bailey
The Polit Bar, Manuka, 6th April 2019
Reviewed by Bill Stephens
Grace Kelly seems an unlikely subject for a cabaret
show, given that the only film which featured her singing was “High
Society”. However it proved a shrewd
choice for Bronte Kellam-Pearson, who bears more than a passing resemblance to
Kelly.
Kellam-Pearson has collected a repertoire of classic
film songs and interwoven them with an interesting narration outlining Kelly’s
career and her apparently voracious appetite for celebrity lovers, until she eventually
meets her dream lover, who happened to be the Prince of Monaco.
Interpolating Jerome Kern’s “Lovely to Look At” and
Cole Porters “You’ve Got that Thing” when explaining Kelly’s success in films, Cole
Porter’s “Night and Day” when listing Kelly’s lovers who included Gary Cooper, Clarke Gable and Ray
Milland, and elsewhere , Rodgers and Hart’s “Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered”
and Jerome Kern’s “Just the Way you Look Tonight” complimented the
storytelling.
However, not all the songs fitted comfortably into the narration, and not all of
them suited Kellam-Pearson’s voice type, which despite the sensitive accompaniments
of Stephen Kreamer on keyboards, tended to
become strident in up-tempo songs like Cole Porter’s “The Lady is a Tramp”.
Appearing more comfortable delivering the narration
than the songs, Kellam-Pearson occasionally gave the impression that the songs
were there to simply pad out the story, rather than being integral. Perhaps the
tiny performance space in the Polit Bar may have contributed to this
impression, as she had very little room to move out from behind the microphone
to vary her presentation or display Bobby Fox’s direction.
It was not until the second half that Kellam-Pearson began
to inhabit the songs. Her wistful interpretation of Charles Strouse’s “Once
Upon a Time”, and her beautifully executed finale, were highlights, confirming
the impression that “With Grace” is still a work in progress, which once
mastered, will become an elegant showcase for the undoubted talents of Bronte
Kellam-Pearson.
