A SPARKLING AFTERNOON!

Sunday afternoon (5th October) saw the inaugural public performance at Open Stage’s new home on Barrack Road in Northampton and it was a triumph!!
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The audience was lucky enough to experience the excellent voices of Sam Antoinette and David Kent in an intimate cabaret setting. They come from very different musical backgrounds, Sam gospel, blues and Motown, David classical, but their joint love of jazz and musical theatre allowed their styles to meld into a well-crafted performance. They were an excellent foil to each other, blending beautiful singing with a sense of fun and exuberance, especially in their interaction with the audience.
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David’s opening song, ‘Welcome to my world’, had a touching poignancy as the first song to be sung in the newly-created theatre space. Sam followed with ‘Let there be love’, which showcased her beautiful rich voice to perfection. I had heard her masterful singing on the soundtrack to David’s musical, ‘Soul Sisters’, but had not seen her perform and what a treat it was. Sam mentioned that she mostly performs with a Danish band, The Chargers, and, frankly, if that’s the only way you can see her perform, book your flight to Denmark now! ‘I was doing alright’ and ‘My baby’ were performed with both power and restraint, showing her vocal range and, with the latter, her passion for the blues. ‘God bless the child’ was floating and lyrical and clearly moved the audience. A lifetime of singing gospel (with reference to her grandmother’s insistence on 5am prayer meetings!) shone through Sam’s rendition of ‘Just a closer walk with thee’.
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David’s singing of three songs brought a change of style, towards the world of musical theatre, starting with one of his own compositions. Written in the 1990s, ‘I never wanted to be right’, showed his ability to blend story-telling and humour. This was followed by ‘Bring him home’ from Les Miserables, a restrained and plaintive performance, demonstrating the range of David’s vocals beautifully. ‘Nice work if you can get it’ was preceded with an introduction about the potential impact of A.I. on artists and performers, but with a timely reminder that nothing can replace the joy of listening to live music. Andrew King, whose piano accompaniment throughout the afternoon was a tour de force, demonstrated his skills even further as the inclusion of this song was somewhat impromptu!
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The first half concluded with two duets, one from Soul Sisters, ‘A new kind of strength’ and the other ‘Your love keeps lifting me higher’, which must have been the campest version ever performed, with David’s and the audience’s hysterical backing vocals and choreography.
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The second half began with David’s unaccompanied and lyrical ‘Danny Boy’ segueing into Sam’s version of ‘Amazing Grace’. With a voice that could fill the Royal Albert Hall if required, Sam’s subtlety in adapting to the intimate space was also apparent in the following ‘My funny Valentine’ and ‘Bye bye blackbird’.
 

‘Delicia’, an up-dating of the story of Chris de Burgh’s ‘Patricia the stripper’, showed David’s skill with lyrics and ‘Creature of the night’, based on his time working in cabaret at the famous Madame JoJo’s in the heart of the West End, was a sensitive study of the demi-monde clientele.
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The afternoon ended with ‘At last’, in which the depth of emotion and finesse underlined Sam’s joy in performing. ‘It don’t mean a thing’, ‘Hit the road Jack’ and the encore of ‘Fly me to the moon’ all had the audience singing along, concluding an afternoon as sparkly as Sam’s top.
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There are three more events in the run up to Christmas – check out the details here:- https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/misterdavidkent