We went to see the rather faboo Christine Pedi [from Forbidden Broadway] in her one-woman show Great Dames last night, largely on the recommendation of the owner of Dress Circle theatrical music shop [The most homosexual place on earth!], and we weren't disappointed!
A show dedicated to the ladies of the musical stage was almost guaranteed to appeal, of course, but we were thrilled at what a brilliant mimic she is. She opens with the most captivating take on Julie Andrews (a feat that not many impersonators can manage), and isn't afraid to take the mickey (affectionately, of course) out of the great lady's inability to reach the high notes any more. As she sings songs from Mary Poppins and My Fair Lady, Miss Pedi wonders what Ethel Merman, Barbra Streisand and Patti Lupone might do if they were asked to play Eliza Doolittle - and sends them all up hilariously in the process.
Not content with providing us with alternative leading ladies for My Fair Lady, the "fantasy cast lists" get wilder. How about Chicago starring Angela Lansbury? Or maybe Bernadette Peters or Elaine Stritch? Miss Pedi captures the particular nuances of all these ladies with hilarious and sometimes cruelly accurate imitations.
Barbra Streisand (over)doing I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts? Brilliant! Carol Channing, Eartha Kitt, Joan Rivers? She does them all...
The show has some interludes of Miss Pedi singing classics in her own smoky jazz voice, but it is her comic impressions that really make the show special. One sketch had us in fits - an imagined musical version of the death of Anna Karenina (under a train) complete with a Russian version of On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe ("The Abkhazia, Tsiblisi and the Kiev line"): "Do you hear that whistle down the line…?". Genius stuff.
Her best (and most cruel) impression, however, has to be Liza Minelli, complete with all her nervous tics and "best friend in all the world" (everyone is her best friend of course) routines. Performing the songs of Abba in the style of Kander and Ebb, she captures both the skill and the ridiculousness of the great diva with hilarious results!
As a grand finale Miss Pedi recalls seeing the great Eartha Kitt singing I Will Survive and proceeds to demonstrate how she and others would do it - Ethel Merman, Carol Channing, Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn all make an appearance - and the audience was in fits of laughter right to the end.
Here's the lady herself, performing a show in New York:
If you're a fan of great musical divas, if you like brilliant comedy in an intimate theatre, or if you are feeling down and need a real pick-me-up evening I highly recommend this show. We loved it!
Jermyn Street Theatre
I followed your "Christine Pedi" label from today's 'Meanwhile, at the auditions...' post because Miss Pedi is just fabulous! And I've just discovered that she's the voice of the domineering bully, Holly Blue Agate, on Steven Universe!!!
ReplyDeleteChristine Pedi is indeed fabulous! We've loved her since we first discovered Forbidden Broadway.
DeleteNever heard of Steven Universe, however. {But then again, on looking at Google it appears to be a children's animation that only began in 2013 - so that isn't really surprising, since we aren't children]. Jx