Gig Review: Kristin Chenoweth - Royal Albert Hall ✭✭✭✭✭

Kristin Chenoweth

Kristin Chenoweth
photo from BroadwayWorld

Royal Albert Hall

Saturday 12th July 2014: Well well well, who would have thought it? Kristin Chenoweth playing her first solo UK gig at the Royal Albert Hall - what a fabulous evening!

After a couple of delays in getting over here previously (a knock to the head and visa problems), Kristin took the stage and gave us an evening of powerful performances embellished with a touch of broadway pzazz! From the moment she walked out on stage, you knew you were in for a treat.

We are taken through a montage of video clips highlighting her illustrious career so far, from Wicked to Glee, and the evening was filled with plenty of punch and stunning performances of songs that mean not only something to her, but to us the audience also. With her tiny frame yet powerful operatic qualities, Kristin's voice is just mind-blowing, her vocals glide over the top of the orchestrations like a hot knife through butter, leaving you gasping for more.

There were many highlights in the show, lots of funny anecdotes ranging from lyric changes in A Chorus Line to "Boobs and Butt", to her time meeting The Queen at Buckingham Palace, all told Kristin's enviable Oklahoman charm.

All the songs chosen were a huge delight to listen to, with tracks from A Chorus Line, Phantom, Cabaret, The Wizard of Oz and Les Miserables to name a few. Peter Lockyer, the current Jean Valjean in Les Mis came on for a duet of 'One Less bell to Answer', originally sung on Glee. Alison Jiear from Jerry Springer the Opera also appeared for a duet of 'Enough is Enough'. Dolly Parton also made an appearance in a funny VT reel.

But a huge highlight of the evening was an amazing duet between Kristin and Kerry Ellis, singing 'For Good' from Wicked. This brought the audience to their feet for the first time, and this was not the last ovation of the evening by no means, as at the end of the night we were longing for more.

Ending with 'I Will Always Love You', Kristin showed how adaptable her voice is, how she can act through any part, and has gone to show what we already know... Kristin is a Tony and Emmy Award winning entertainer, and will always be welcome on any stage or screen with her phenomenal voice.

Five Stars ✭✭✭✭✭