Monday, May 9, 2016

LOVE SONGS - MICHAEL CORMICK


Musical Director: James Court


Teatro Vivaldi – 7th May 2016



Reviewed by Bill Stephens














Mindful that one of his performances at Teatro Vivaldi’s would be on Mother’s Day, Michael Cormick took advantage of the intimate ambiance of Vivaldi’s to prepare a program of love songs more in keeping with the occasion than the advertised songs   from “Phantom”, “Les Miserables”, “Annie” or  “Love Never Dies”.

One of the country’s most accomplished music theatre stars, Cormick has performed in leading roles a succession of major musical productions both in Australia and on the West End, and while this program inevitably included songs from musicals, they were from musicals in which he hasn’t yet appeared, and songs which fitted his theme of love in all its various aspects.

Setting a relaxed, laid back tone for the program with a nicely phrased version of Marvin Hamlisch’s, “What I Did For Love” from “A Chorus Line” , Cormick followed with Ewan MacColl’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, both songs associated with female singers but the lyrics of which are equally compelling when interpreted from the male perspective.

Cormick developed  this idea further  with two songs by Adele, “Rolling in the Deep” and “Someone Like You”, and three songs by Burt Bacharach, “Walk on By”, “Say A Little Prayer” and “That’s What Friends are For”. He also performed  a quartet of songs by Stephen Sondheim which included “Send in the Clowns”, “Stay With Me”, “No One Is Alone” and a stunning version of “Being Alive”.

For some songs Cormick used recorded backing tapes, which, although adding a professional lushness to the sound, gave those songs an unfortunate karaoke feel, especially notable in the John Farnham song “Burn For You”, and the Adele songs, where his excellent musical director was relegated to simply playing along with the tapes.
For this listener, the use of backing tapes also spoilt the enjoyment of watching the rapport between singer and accompanist as they work together to create a performance. An element so essential for this type of intimate cabaret experience, and one which was so obvious in this performance in the beautiful arrangements for Rogers and Hammerstein’s, “If I Love You” and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”.

His connecting dialogue was not as polished as one might expect from this calibre of performer, but  “Love Songs” provided a very welcome opportunity to enjoy an excellent collection of songs which display a very different side of Michael Cormick’s prodigious talent, in the cosy ambience of Canberra’s little jewel-box of a cabaret room, Teatro Vivaldi.  


This review also appears in Australian Arts Review. www.artsreview.com.au