Elaine Page is probably the star name of British musical theatre over the last thirty years. She seems to have starred in virtually every hit musical to hit the West End, since her first lead as Eva Peron in Evita in the mid 1970s. I remember going to see Evita on a school trip in 1979. I also went to see her twice in Chess, which remains my all time favourite musical.
So when I saw she was doing a short tour performing her biggest hits from all the musicals she had starred in, I thought it sounded like a great evening's entertainment. And it some ways it was. But it lacked something.
Yes, she performed all her biggest songs, but with the passing of the years her voice seems to have lost a certain something. Only when she went into character, as Norma Desmond or Edith Piaf did her voice really come to life. Unfortunately, from my point of view, she murdered Don't Cry For me Argentina and I Know Him So Well, but her performance as Edith Piaf was memorable.
There was also very little spontaneity in the whole performance. From my vantage point I could see she had an autocue, not just for the songs (which you'd have thought she'd know quite well by now) but also for the chatty bits in between them. Somehow that didn't seem right.
Part of the fun of the evening was seeing who else was there. We spotted Brian May and Anita Dobson (who left at the interval), Bob Shennan, the new controller of Radio 2, Lionel Blair, Lorraine Chase and Christopher Biggins.
The last time I went to the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane I think Dame Edna Everage was performing there. Now that's what I call an evening's entertainment.
