By BRUCE DENNILL
Swingin’ Las Vegas / Conducted by Adam Howard / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg
The title of this musical extravaganza (an accurate term, for once) is slightly misleading. While a good chunk of the running order comprises swing music that was swing music before it was arranged as swing music (syncopated; emphasising the off beat) for this scenario, the setlist as a whole is more about celebrating the musical legacy that has come out of Vegas rather than placing a tight focus on a specific genre, however beloved it might be of conductor, producer and arranger Adam Howard and his sublime Johannesburg Big Band.
Thematically, if you want to get pernickety, there are arguably some shortfalls here. Amy Winehouse is paid tribute to, but she never actually performed in Vegas (which is acknowledged on stage as part of a script that mostly comprises different performers interacting briefly and informally as songs are introduced) and there is no space for anything from recent Strip residents U2 or relatively contemporary stalwarts like Celine Dion.
But the churlishness of such thinking is soon established – as soon as the opening medley, in fact, a mélange of Elvis tunes arranged by Bryan Schimmel and performed by Craig Urbani with a combination of effortless musical chops, control, panache and perfectly pitched humour that sets the bar for his fellow singers for the rest of the night.
What is also evident from the outset is the joy that comes with performing not only with a big band – the enveloping power of the sound and the number of notes that make a vocal line just one part of a rich, textured chord – but with one of this extraordinary quality. Howard himself brings out his trumpet for the occasional solo, supported by ranked tiers of brilliant brass players. On the other side of the stage, Rob Watson and David Cousins are the standouts in the non-brass component of the band. Drummer Watson is the foundation of everything that happens on stage, at once unshakably solid as the timekeeper and mesmerisingly expressive with his fills and phrasing. On the piano, Cousins matches him in the latter department, adding dynamic colour and detail with understated flair (which should be an oxymoron but isn’t).
Regular Johannesburg Big Band collaborator Timothy Moloi brings his velvety low range and soulful delivery to a number of songs, and is given the responsibility of handling the Sinatra songs in the line-up, including perhaps the most well-know of all his standards, My Way.
Harry Sideropoulos’ return to the stage (he worked with Howard on his own show, Big Band Bash) offers more joy and brazen pizazz than even his biggest fans might’ve hoped, with his gravelly voice and penchant for costumes and fun, full-on drama meaning he is often a scene stealer.
Corlea, the only female vocalist on the bill takes her colleagues’ collective impact easily in stride, positively glowing with confidence (never arrogance, there is a clear difference) and then backing it up with monumental voice and a style of delivery that matches Urbani’s for smoothness – which is saying something, given that he is having an absolute ball coming across as a suave, charming mix of George Clooney and Michael Buble. Corlea is so comfortable on stage that, when her heel gets caught on some stairs and she nearly takes a tumble during her rendition of Adele’s Rolling In The Deep, she has time to improvise the line “We nearly had a fall” instead of “We could have had it all”, before recovering, taking three steps forward and belting out the song’s ending with such force that people in the balcony are shoved back in their chairs by the sound.
Over the course of the show, the combination of extraordinary musical skill and the undiluted delight in what they’re doing on the part of the performers is irresistible. A touch more polish – possibly fully scripted – in the links between songs and perhaps a net cast slightly wider in terms of the range of material included (there would not be a single audience member who wouldn’t want more songs) and this show would have it all. As is, it’ll blow you away anyway.
