Stevie Webb Shines in The Landor Theatre's Brilliant 'A Spotlight On...' Cabaret Season
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Review by Fiona Lister
Saturday 14th January, 2012
The Landor Theatre in Clapham played host to the young, extraordinarily talented West End musical star Stevie Webb, on Saturday evening. Stevie took his turn in the spotlight for one of the Landor’s infamous ‘A Spotlight On…’ shows. ‘A Spotlight On…’ is a series of one-night performances run over three weeks, providing well-known musical artists the opportunity to share their talents, sing their most inspirational songs and tell their stories in the intimate surroundings of a studio theatre.
This year marks the Landor Theatre’s first anniversary of their West End Cabaret Season 2012 and everyone is flocking to buy tickets. The shows are produced by the sensational Seasonal Director Andrew Keates, together with Theatrica Ltd. Andrew, who is also Theatre Manager and a resident director and a producer at The Landor Theatre with Artistic Director, Robert McWhir, works tirelessly to ensure that gifted stars have a chance to showcase their work. He can’t stress the importance of this enough. Andrew explained that being on the West End stage in character with your co-stars is very different from standing in front of an audience by yourself in a club environment. The intensity of being put under a microscope in this way is a testament to the skill and talent of the performer. Andrew is also making theatre accessible to the whole community. ‘A Spotlight On…’ gives theatregoers the chance to see West End stars for just £16.00 a ticket. The Landor is certainly providing a value for money night out during these difficult economic times. I recommend going along with a group of friends.
Stevie Webb, at twenty-eight years old, has spent twenty years of his working life in show business and the dedication has paid off; even stars such as Alfie Boe are interested in singing with him. Stevie’s most interesting theatre credits include the lead in ‘Oliver!’ at the London Palladium; Young Hogarth in ‘Hogarth’ at the Bridewell Theatre, London; Posner in Alan Bennett’s ‘The History Boys’ (National Theatre UK Tour and West End); Ross in ‘Departure Lounge’(Waterloo East Theatre); Cooper in ‘Betwixt! The Musical’ (Trafalgar Studios), and Wishy Washy in ‘Aladdin’ at the Lyric Theatre (Hammersmith). Following his success in ‘Betwixt! The Musical’, Stevie is now involved in ‘Betwixt! The Movie', an independent feature film of this fabulous West End show www.betwixtmusical.com, and he will be appearing in ‘After The Turn’www.aftertheturn.com, a brand new British pop-rock musical, presented by Interval Productions and featuring songs by Tim Prottey-Jones, showing at the Courtyard Theatre, from 31st January – 1st February http://www.thecourtyard.org.uk/whatson/.
Stevie treated his audience to a spellbinding, heart-warming show that everyone is still discussing. In fact, Stevie was such a hit that he will be appearing again on Tuesday 24th January at 7:30p.m. Tickets are expected to sell out quickly, so please make sure you book in advance through the Landor Theatre Box Office: http://www.landortheatre.co.uk.
Regular Comedy Store pianist Steve Edis, accompanied Stevie on stage and flitted effortlessly from one song to the next. Stevie sang a varied range of terrific musical hits, mostly from young up-and-coming composers and lyricists, including songs by Chris Passey, Amy Carroll, and Dougal Irvine, mixed with old favourite classical songs from ‘Les Misérables’ and ‘The Phantom of the Opera’. Sarah Lark, who has just enjoyed a tremendously successful run in the role of Miss Mona in ‘The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’ at the Union Theatre, was also invited to duet with him. The result was an evening of spectacular musical theatre with Stevie promoting his special guests and recalling the highs and lows of his career. The audience was invited to write down their questions which Stevie pulled out of a hat and answered. One man had written down his phone number!
There is something delightfully refreshing about Stevie’s performance. He’s blessed with angelic looks – fair hair and a wistful gaze, but his voice is extremely powerful. Singing in such an intimate space to all those expectant faces must initially seem daunting, but his sensitivity is the very quality that enhances his performance, spurring him on to sing as though he’s touched by every poignant lyric, seen most notably in ‘Empty Chairs at Empty Tables’ from ‘Les Misérables’.
The show began with Stevie discussing his first big break into musical theatre. He was just eight years old when he began performing in Lionel Bart’s ‘Oliver!’ in the West End, eventually landing the leading role. His family live in the Wirral, so leaving them behind was a huge upheaval for a young boy. He discussed how exciting but how hard it was for him as a young child star to cut the apron strings at a time when he still needed his family. Although I’ve heard of children landing plum roles in West End shows before, it’s not until you actually hear a story like this that you can really appreciate the sacrifice and choices families have to make. Stevie dedicated a song written by Chris Passey for his mother. Hearing him sing this in front of her was an incredibly moving experience for everyone in the room. He was completely swept away by the whole emotion of the evening. When I turned to look at the audience made up of regular theatregoers, friends, family and loved ones, I realised that everyone felt the same, myself included! Cue handkerchiefs.
Chris Passey is a West Midlands based Composer/Lyricist and a rising star of musical theatre. Stevie promoted his new album Self Taught; Still Learning: The Songs of Chris Passey, an album that members of the audience were able to buy on the night. Profits from the album sales go to Cancer Research and the MS Society. This fabulous album is available on Dress Circle, www.BritishTheatre.com; www.amazon.co.uk; ITunes and www.cdbaby.com. Chris is Co-Artistic Director and Composer of Big World Theatre Company with Theatre Designer Amy Carroll. They recently teamed up with Carrie James Productions to present ‘An Evening with Chris Passey and Friends’ to be held on Sunday 22 January 2012 at 8:00p.m. (TICKETS NOW SOLD OUT) at the Leicester Square Theatre Lounge, featuring Chris, Anderson and Petty, students of The Musical Theatre Academy and many other exciting performers. The evening will showcase songs from his album, and as mentioned before, profits will go to Cancer Research UK and the MS Society.
Stevie paid tribute to his sister Victoria with the classic Andrew Gold song ‘Thank You For Being A Friend’. The theme of family, the transition from boyhood to young man and the strong bond of friendships that have carried him throughout his life and career featured strongly in his chosen songs and anecdotes. In particular, he paid tribute to Julie Atherton (currently playing the role of Sister Mary Robert in the UK national tour of the hit musical Sister Act which opened at the Manchester Opera House on Thursday 29th September and is touring the UK and Ireland), Jack Shalloo who he met during his run in ‘Departure Lounge’,and the casts he’s worked with over the years. Incidentally, Jack has a brilliant album out ‘London Soul’ http://www.jackshalloo.co.uk/. I recommend listening to ‘City Boys’!
Stevie invited special guest star Sarah Lark onto the stage to duet on ‘Music of the Night’ from ‘The Phantom of the Opera’. Sarah made a fabulous Christine Daaé. Dressed in a purple evening gown with her dark hair tumbling in shiny loose curls around her shoulders, everyone remarked on what a terrific Christine she would make over at Her Majesty’s Theatre. Sarah and Stevie compliment each other’s voices and hearing them sing ‘Suddenly Seymour’ from ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ was one of the best moments in the show, with Sarah replacing the words “Suddenly Seymour” with “Suddenly Stevie”. I’ve been singing the infectious lyrics ever since.
I was particularly delighted to hear Stevie sing ‘Simple’, a beautifully written song by Dougal Irvine. I first heard him perform this at Dougal’s splendid Acoustic Overtures album launch on Battersea Barge last October. ‘’Simple’ is perfect for his voice – the song starts off softly and then builds. Stevie starred in Dougal Irvine’s bold, funny, award-winning musical ‘Departure Lounge’ which ran over at the Waterloo East Theatre in 2010. 'Departure Lounge' is the story of four eighteen year-old boys who find themselves stranded at Malaga Airport, all of them are on the brink of manhood and are facing their inner insecurities and demons. They are left trying to piece together their wild drunken holiday in the sunshine and their antics with a particular girl. The 2010 production starred Stevie Webb, Chris Fountain, Verity Rushworth, Jack Shalloo and Liam Tamne. Dougal and Stevie struck up a great friendship and on Saturday night they sang a duet from the show “Do You Know What I Think of You” replacing some of the lyrics with comedic insults. A brand new production of Departure Lounge by InStep Theatre will be running at the Unity Theatre in Liverpool from Wednesday 1st February - Saturday 4th February at 8:00p.m., featuring a new cast. There will be a Post-show discussion with writer Dougal Irvine, on Thursday 2nd Feburary. Tickets can be booked through Unity Theatre's website: www.unitytheatreliverpool.co.uk. Don't miss out on this, particularly if you are young and interested in musical theatre.
Stevie’s forte lies in comedy and show tunes, such as Ian McFarlane’s ‘How Do you Know ‘Til You Try Me’ from ‘Betwixt! Another great show tune was ‘Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered’ from the 1940 Rodgers and Hart Musical Pal Joey, and ‘Jesus was a Jew’. I can’t help but think that Stevie would be fantastic in a musical like ‘The Producers’. He’d make a terrific Leo Bloom.
Stevie finished on a song called ‘We Rule The World’ by Dougal Irvine. ‘We Rule the World’ was originally written for ‘Departure Lounge’, but Dougal decided not to use the song in the musical. Thankfully, we were able to hear what many now consider is one of Dougal’s best works. Stevie invited Sarah Lark and Chris Passey onto the stage to sing with him and Dougal. The entire audience rose to their feet, clapped and cheered.
Whatever you do, don’t miss Stevie Webb’s charming ‘A Spotlight On…’ showing on Tuesday 24th January. Please book through the Landor Theatre’s Box Office. http://www.landortheatre.co.uk/.
‘A Spotlight On…’ Season of Brilliant West End Stars
There are lots of fabulous Spotlight shows to see. Whatever you do, don’t miss out!
Wednesday 18th January - Lucy Williamson
Thursday 19th January - George Ure (SOLD OUT)
Friday 20th January - Liz Robertson (STRICTLY LIMITED AVAILABILITY)
Saturday 21st January - Andrew Derbyshire
Sunday 22nd January - Carl Mullaney
Tuesday 24th January - Stevie Webb (Back by popular demand)
Wednesday 25th January - David Alder (LIMITED AVAILABILITY)
Thursday 26th January - Beverley Klein
Saturday 28th January - Lucy May Barker (LIMITED AVAILABILITY)
Sunday 29th January - Clive Rowe
