
Spring
and other things
Michael
Darvell on Lorna Dallas
Although
she has now finished her short season at Jermyn Street Theatre, I couldn't let
Lorna Dallas go without reminding our readers what a good performer she is, and
bemoan the fact that we really do not see enough of this superb singer in the
West End. Her Spring Collection was such a brilliant piece of programming,
a very pleasing
mixture
of the familiar and the rarely-performed that provided a textbook example of what
cabaret is all about. The theme was spring and it seems that more songsmiths have
written about that particular season than any other time of year. Summer is probably
next on the list, and of course autumn has a few entries, but winter? - that's
surely a no-no for a good song. But back to spring and, apart from the obvious
('Younger Than Springtime,' 'Spring, Spring, Spring,' 'April in Paris' etc.),
there wasn't much that was too familiar, and it's good to hear such comparative
rarities as 'Suddenly It's Spring,' from Lady In The Dark, 'Spring is a
New Beginning' from The Yearling, and 'You Must Believe in Spring' from
The Young Girls of Rochefort.
Lorna
Dallas has such a warm, melodious voice that to be in her company is like being
bathed in hot chocolate. I am not the first person to compare her with the likes
of Barbara Cook, for she possesses a similar vocal quality of emotional depth
that comes out in every song she interprets. And, singing some of Miss Cook's
songs ('The Springtime Cometh' from Flahooley and 'Buds Won't Bud' from
Hooray for What?) reiterates this quality. I do hope she will be repeating
this excellent programme at other at other venues as well as perhaps committing
it to record, for it really is one of the finest cabaret compilations in living
memory.