The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
    • Shows & On demand
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Fund us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • Tumblr

  • RSS


CultureMusicLive music

A Spoonful of Sherman at St James

A Spoonful of Sherman at St James | Live review
14 January 2014
Timothy Bano
Timothy Bano
Avatar
Timothy Bano
14 January 2014

In the basement studio of St James Theatre, Robert J Sherman, son of legendary songwriter Robert B Sherman, introduces a wide variety of his father’s music, from the familiar (Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book) to the less well-known. Sherman reads the narrative of his father’s life, introducing each song as he goes and a group of four soloists takes over, accompanied only by Colin Billing on the piano.sherman

Many of the songs that are performed are about love or dreams or happiness and it would be easy to allow cynicism to take over. But there are plenty of powerful, recognisable tunes (A Spoonful of Sugar, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) that conjure up iconic movie scenes and childhood memories so that any growing cynicism easily fades.

There is a strange intensity having the singers performing big show tunes to such a small audience. By the end, however, when the audience has been warmed up and begins to clap or sing along to almost every song, this intensity turns into intimacy, the performers start to ad lib with comic asides and the basement studio becomes a music hall.

Each singer has their own standout moment, and none of them is remotely below par. Greg Castiglioni’s version of A Veritable Smorgasbord is particularly funny, while Comes A-Long A-Love sung by Charlotte Wakefield and Mother Earth and Father Time by Emma Williams captivate the audience completely. These singers have to rival some of the most iconic voices in musical history: Julie Andrews, Louis Prima, Frank Sinatra. While it is not difficult to better Dick Van Dyke’s singing ability (or Cockney accent), it is no mean feat to reinvent songs that are so inextricably wedded to a particular voice. But these performers manage excellently and showcase powerful voices.

Robert J Sherman is not the most natural narrator, but he has a friendly, self-deprecating style and a very apparent and deep devotion to his father. After his moving, choked up, conclusory remarks the cast ends with a hit of nostalgia for anyone who spent their childhood (or beyond) watching Mary Poppins: a full-force rendition of Let’s Go Fly a Kite. There is schmaltz, silliness and sentimentality throughout but none of this is a bad thing; what is apparent, above all, is Sherman’s ability to write songs with staying power and emotional acuity, which is why we’re still singing them 50 years later.

Timothy Bano

A Spoonful of Sherman was on at St James for one night only, for further information and future events visit here.

Related Items

More in Live music

Jungle at Alexandra Palace

★★★★★
Musanna Ahmed
Read More

FKJ at the Roundhouse

★★★★★
Jasper Watkins
Read More

Jeremy Loops and James Hersey at the Roundhouse

★★★★★
Daniel McLeod
Read More

Bastille at Brixton Academy

★★★★★
Jasper Watkins
Read More

Death Cab for Cutie at Hammersmith Apollo

★★★★★
The editorial unit
Read More

The Dandy Warhols at Brixton Academy

★★★★★
The editorial unit
Read More

Ed Harcourt, Tom Smith and She Drew the Gun play in beautiful and intimate Stand Up to Cancer concert at Union Chapel

The editorial unit
Read More

Matt Corby at the Forum

★★★★★
Jonathan Marshall
Read More

Nathaniel Rateliff at Hammersmith Apollo

★★★★★
Marissa Khaos
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Tickets

Theatre tickets

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • The Aftermath premiere: On the red carpet with Keira Knightly, Alexander Skarsgård, director James Kent and cast
    Cinema
  • Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don’t Know Me
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Richard Quinn autumn/winter 2019 collection catwalk show for LFW
    Fashion weeks
  • STEVE O SMITH autumn/winter 2019 collection presentation for LFW
    Fashion weeks
  • Elizabethan Treasures at the National Portrait Gallery
    ★★★★★
    Art
  • Tell It to the Bees
    ★★★★★
    Glasgow
  • And the Rest of Me Floats at Bush Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The Hole in the Ground
    ★★★★★
    Glasgow
  • The Apologists
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Fighting with My Family
    ★★★★★
    Glasgow
  • And the Rest of Me Floats at Bush Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The Hole in the Ground
    ★★★★★
    Glasgow
  • The Apologists
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Fighting with My Family
    ★★★★★
    Glasgow
  • Orlando
    ★★★★★
    Theatre

Instagram

Something is wrong.
Instagram token error.
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Fund us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2018 FL Media Ltd

Golden Globes 2014: the winners
East India Youth at Rough Trade East | Live review