Cry Me A River with Rhonda Burchmore

After premiering at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival last year, Rhonda Burchmore’s concert-bio show of Julie London arrived in Brisbane at the Powerhouse.

With the venue set up in cabaret mode with tables and chairs, and smoky lighting effects by David Murray, it was the right atmosphere for a walk down the 1950s jazz memory lane. Burchmore’s own personality swamps the show and there’s little of London in her performance but the songs. But what great songs! “Give Me the Simple Life,” “Blues in the Night” and “Black Coffee,” rub shoulders with “Feeling Good,” “Light My Fire,” and of course London’s biggest hit, “Cry Me a River.” “Guess Who I Saw Today” was used for the break-up of her marriage, with “The End of the World” signifying the end of her era.

Gary Young’s script was at the most perfunctory, but Ray Alldridge and his six-piece combo were brilliant. After a while, though, there was a sameness to the arrangements; a vocal chorus followed by a band break and then a vocal wrap-up.

There were no surprises! But, the capacity audience didn’t seem to mind one little bit. They reveled in the nostalgia, and Burchmore, with her obligatory audience walk-through, had them eating out of her gloved and bejeweled hands.

Peter Pinne

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