Red Hot & Cole

Having the opportunity to enjoy a wide selection of the iconic music of Cole Porter in one single evening, wrapped up in a show extravaganza of colour and spectacle, does not arise every day.  All the passion, pace, triumph and tragedy of the life of this immensely talented man was depicted in this offering which was received with acclaim by the audience.  The part of Cole was played by Bill Kirman who brought the life of this famous man alive very vividly whilst singing a number of solos and duets. ‘True Love’ performed with Joanna Tuck (Elsa Maxwell) was especially moving. She opened the show and introduced us to the great man with a lively rendition of ’I’m Throwing a Ball Tonight’ and later singing ‘The Physician’ superbly.  Jo Williams (Linda Porter – his wife) was perfect in her part being elegant and charming. Her repertoire of numbers included ‘I love Paris’ and ‘In the still of the Night’, both delightfully presented.  Kathy Stokes (Ethel Merman) sang a lively duet ‘You’re the Tops’ with Bill and closed the first half in a resounding fashion with ‘Ridin’ High & Red, Hot & Blue’ well supported by all the chorus.  This also gave the team of dancers another opportunity to show off their tapping skills to great effect.  All the other principals gave good convincing performances especially Anika Lefevre as Bricktop who was outstanding in every department.  Her rendition of ‘I’m in love Again’ was magical.  The 3 piece orchestra and MD, who were situated in the middle of the stage making them an integral part of this show, played excellently truly accompanying the cast but never overshadowing their vocals.  My congratulations go to Mike Mackenzie for the great job he did both in taking part as Monty singing some great songs especially ‘Don’t Fence me In’ and directing this Review with a differance. 

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