UK Theatre Network

TODD GORDON & TINA MAY SING
 
FRANK & ELLA

DARLINGTON ARTS CENTRE

There’s something about the sound of jazz and swing that makes my spine tingle – I love it! Add the smooth, silky quality of Todd Gordon’s crooning, the dulcet tones of the sultry, sophisticated, sassy Tina May and the hit recordings made famous by Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald and, in my opinion, you’re in for a pretty spectacular evening.

On Saturday night, Darlington Arts Centre played host to Mr Gordon and Miss May in their tribute to Ol’ Blue Eyes and the First Lady of Song. After Todd Gordon opened up with a set that included You Make Me Feel So Young, S’Wonderful, Hard Hearted Hannah and The Summer Wind, Tina May stepped into the limelight and wowed the audience with her renditions of A-Tisket, A-Tasket, Night and Day, Black Coffee and Someone To Watch Over Me. The duet numbers, Manhattan and They Can’t Take That Away From Me demonstrated that these performers go together as well as champagne and caviar.

In a corner of my mind, I was transported back in time to an old ‘speakeasy’ in Prohibition-era New York. Perhaps I was born in the wrong place and time?

The evening continued with many more classic standards from the American songbook, including I Get A Kick Out Of You, It Was A Very Good Year and How Long Has This Been Going On? The vocalists were accompanied by a truly talented trio of musicians in the form of Gordon Kilroy (percussion), Brian Shiels (bass) and David Patrick (piano).

The evening was rounded off with a playful and quirky duet of The Lady is a Tramp and, after two delightful hours of wonderful musical entertainment the audience, and this reviewer, left the theatre and entered into the warm, dusky night air humming those fabulous tunes.

Steve Burbridge.