Christina Bianco In Divine Company.
With Joe Louis Robinson at the piano. Dunstan Playhouse. Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Adelide Festival Centre. June 21-22 2024.
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
Christina Bianco may not be tall, but boy does her voice hit the heights. Feisty or gutsy, smooth or soaring, Bianco’s vocal impressions of the divas of song uncannily capture the unique quality of a Streisand, an Andrews, a Dion, a Minelli or a LuPone. In Divine Company is a tribute to the amazing divas of song by extraordinary impressionist Bianco accompanied on piano by Joe Louis Robinson.
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| Musical Director Joe Louis Robinson |
In an hour of impressions Bianco exudes a contagious energy and mercurial charm that instantly captures the very essence of the divas she mimics. The momentary glimpse of one of her impressions conjures an immediate connection in the audience’s mind with the artist she impersonates. Bianco is the chameleon of song, able to let the high notes soar and the raunchy notes erupt from a passion far within, but always with a respect and admiration for the singer.
In a tribute to Sammy Davis
Junior Bianco segues through a variety of versions of I’ve Got To Be Me. There is the demure and practically perfect
impression of Julie Andrews’ rendition of the song, or Gwen Stefani’s assertive
version. She nails Shirley Bassey’s echoing vibrato and Patti LuPone’s Broadway
musical style. Her Barbra Streisand lets
loose with chutzpah on the lyrics and one is aware of Bianco’s obsessive love
of her art. She sculpts her art with affection and keen observation. With each
familiar impression we are left to complete the image and the voice in our
imaginations. Bianco emerges the Diva’s Siren.
For those who remember Liza
Minelli’s Liza With A Z and Minella’s plea to explain the pronunciation of her
name, Bianco adapts Marvin Hamlisch’s lyrics to describe in Minelli’s
inimitable fashion the confusions that can exist in the pronunciation and spelling
of Christina not Christine and Bianco
not Bianca.
For any lovers of musical theatre, Bianco’s performances are a joyful trip down Memory Lane. Occasionally she will vacate the impression to allow space for Christina Bianco’s extraordinary talent to shine through as it did when she played Fanny Brice in a Paris production of Funny Girl. Bianco is a consummate entertainer, a delightful comedienne and a singer of immense versatility, range and character. There were times when I longed for a complete rendition of an impression. Her love of Andrew Lloyd-Webber did offer this with her performance of As If We Never Said Goodbye from Sunset Boulevard.
Her farewell was her own
rendition of Carol Burnett’s farewell to the audience at the end of her TV
show. “I’m so glad we had this time
together …Enjoy.” And we did!
Bianco has left Adelaide but you can still catch her at the Hayes Theatre in Sydney from June 24th – 27th Later in the year Bianco will take on the role of Ado Annie, the”girl who cain’t say no” in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma in London’s West End when audiences will have the opportunity to enjoy this brilliantly comical entertainer’s own sparkling talent. Let’s hope for another early return to Australia.
Photos: Claudio Raschella
