REVIEW: SCOTT ALAN - JUST ME...AND THEM, Leicester Square Theatre, October 11 2009

Angelina Jones

Just the very prospect of a full length concert, bursting with back to back, heartfelt, down-tempos makes my attention span fidget nervously. There are few things I hate more in life than ballads, I hate singing them and I hate listening to them, yet Scott Alan's concert at the Leicester Square Theatre this past Sunday managed to captivate me for over an hour and a half. Not only that, but I was left frantically scrabbling for my iPod on the tube afterwards to listen to his albums Keys and Dreaming Wide Awake, and keen to get home quickly so that I could attempt to belt out ‘Never Neverland' with as much gusto as the phenomenal Stephanie J. Block.

So what was it about the evening's events that kept me so firmly transfixed to my seat? The main contributing factor was the vocally stunning (and as Scott Alan kept insisting "sexy") cast. Sunday evening certainly saw the current cream of the West End and special Broadway guest Stephanie J. Block, brought together to produce one hell of a line up, with particularly outstanding performances from Australian powerhouse Alison Jiear (Jerry Springer the Opera) who provided a riveting rendition of Home, Ramin Karimloo (Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables) who gave a powerful and enchanting performance of Again and the ever charming Oliver Tompsett (Wicked) who had the girls in the row behind me squealing with delight even before he presented his sweet and sincere Kiss the Air. A special mention should go to Patina Miller (Sister Act) who still managed to bring the house down with an acoustic If I Own Today, despite being without a microphone after a technical glitch, stalling the show momentarily.

Yet it was Block (9 to 5, Wicked) who seemed to finally stir tears amongst an already emotionally hooked audience, debuting Scott Alan's brand new song Soar, a ballad that I feel rivals some of his best work and contains everything a wonderful 'I want' song should.

Scott Alan himself proved that his talents expand far beyond composing, treating the audience to his own vocal talents and performing three of his songs (West, Blessing, Nothing More) with the honesty and emotional range that only the original composer could truly bring to them.

It was felt that the evening as a whole had a certain spark that recent cabarets have been lacking. Perhaps it was producer Simon Greiff's attention to detail that made the concert appear so flawless; the simple, yet beautiful staging, the addition to the orchestrations of a talented string trio and what appeared to be a thoroughly rehearsed cast. The overall impression of the evening was that an awful lot of effort and hard work had gone into creating it and it had certainly paid off.

Scott Alan continues to bring us a palette of songs that tug on our heartstrings and connect with us all on an emotional level, despite being taken out of the usual Musical Theatre context that we are all so accustomed to and comfortable with. Though most of his work is written based on his personal experiences, it is apparent that we can all take something for ourselves from his lyrics, even if it hasn't been his original intention with the songs. As he so beautifully worded it on Sunday, "The interesting thing about what music does, is that it's so universal, even if you don't speak the language, you understand it. It's a language all by its own."