These are the contents of my head (the Annie Lennox show) recently landed at Wales Millennium Centre and is the latest instalment of the Living Record series which sees Salty Brine bring to life popular icons/music and twists them to create a unique perspective of things we love but not as we know them. I have to admit that I was not too familiar with Annie Lennox before this show so I was a little worried that some of the references and lyrics would be missed but due to the cabaret-style infusion added to the numbers meant that I (and any other unaware people in the audience) could easily and quickly catch up. As someone who has dabbled with the idea of being somewhat of a musician and being a part of a collective (but more on that later), I always find it particularly special when bands are given centre stage as they are essentially the backbone of any musical production and often times do not get the recognition they deserve. This is why I found it absolutely fantastic that the band remained visibly on the stage throughout the show so the audience could focus on the wonderful music being produced all the way through the show!
In classic Rhys Reviews style, I managed to find a way to become the centre of attention and actually become a part of the show by taking on the role of Robert Lebrun who is the central love interest within “The Awakening” novel this production is inspired by. As an initially unexpected addition to the show, I was used as the personification of this flirtatious character that Salty returned to multiple times throughout the show including a hilarious sequence where she sat on my lap and draped herself over me which had the audience in fits of laughter throughout. However, being the centre of attention was heartlessly ripped away from me as the novel’s lead character forms a new relationship with another man who was also brought to life by another unsuspecting audience member. I must have gotten away with luck by being the initial romance stand-in as the latter was used to imitate a series of more sensual activities between the two characters (which was met by even more intense laughter from the viewing public who were not selected) and I cannot comprehend how awkward I would have been if the roles were swapped! Being able to involve the audience in such a way shows the professionalism and experience of Salty Brine as she was able to pick out people who were mostly willing to take part but still nailed many comedic moments which could have easily derailed the entire show but Salty did this with ease! It was not just audience members who were bright to Salty Brine’s unique production as the Musical director Ben Langhorst was able to pull them into the story as they took in the role of “The Awakening” who delivered many hilarious quips and jokes throughout. I do have to take a moment to give Ben the praise they deserve as they not only help the band together, frequently get into some sort of quick drag and even took to the stage to deliver a brilliant duet in the latter section of the show which showed immense talent!
The show itself is a unique blend of Salty Brine’s own experience of growing up queer and the 1899 novel ‘The Awakening’ by Kate Chopin (which shows uncanny similarities with one another) navigated via the musical vehicle of Annie Lennox’s debut solo album ‘Diva.’ These three powerful influences are woven together through a sort of stream of consciousness style presentation with Salty essentially sharing a (mostly) Monologistic performance with a cabaret style twist. One of the most eccentric numbers of the entire production was the wonderfully over-the-top “Zing goes my heart” by the gay icon Judy Garland which really captured both the high-energy cabaret style infusion of the entire show and the wonderfully unique presentation of the lead performer. This cabaret classic highlights the idea of a love at first sight experience by two characters in the aforementioned novel (which was also conveniently directed at me) as the stand-in love interest. Through this song choice Salty was able to not only able to showcase their immense vocal talents but also their acting abilities as she was able to flawlessly capture the idea of the budding romance while still staying in the unique cabaret style format which I personally thought was the perfect song choice for this show! The rose-tinted glasses of the characters in the American classic ‘The Awakening’ are suddenly removed as the track transitions into the wonderfully intense “Cold, Cold, Cold” by Annie Lennox which explores love gone wrong as the romance begins to fall apart. It was clear that Salty poured absolutely everything into their performance as this number was equal parts intense but also highly captivating which is a very difficult line to dance around but Salty did not seem fazed in the slightest as they delivered a truly captivating performance!
Something many people are surprised to learn about me is the fact that in my younger years, I used to play the violin and in fact, I used the talent in order to achieve a great grade in my music GCSE exams as it required a series of live performances in order to pass the course. For my solo portion of this examination I decided to showcase my rendition of “Puttin on the Ritz” originally by Irving Berlin in 1929 and so this song has always had a special place in my heart so when the iconic medley began to echo through the western studio of Wales Millennium I was instantly transported back to my teenage years (which is actually the setting of the play itself.) Salty Brine used this number to truly showcase their incredible vocal talents as she delivered a pure camp spectacle of this jazz classic with the added twist of the intense Annie Lennox song “Money Can’t Buy It” which the performance sang with every fibre of their being which made for a fantastically unique performance that had the audience totally transfixed! This added layer of sentimentality on top of the wonderful performance made this a standout number for me personally and every person in attendance seemed genuinely in awe of what was happening.
The highlight of this performance however came in the closing moments as Salty began to peel back the classically drag-centric elements and delivered an insanely powerful rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” made famous by Judy Garland in the iconic Wizard of Oz! The number started with the performer taking off their wig, shoes and earrings (which is a trope I have seen many times, most recently at Ceri Dupree’s Miss Leading Ladies which you can read about at https://rhysreviews.com/2024/02/17/ceri-dupree-production-review/#:~:text=Overall%2C%20Ceri%20Dupree%20is%20a,classic%20crude%20and%20camp%20entertainment.) as they poured literally everything into this powerful song. Not only is it an incredibly moving track in its own regard but seeing the performer stripped back and contorting around the stage in pure overwhelming-ness really amplified the message of this song! Having this show-stopping number at the end of the performance not only made total sense but also showcased how talented Salty truly is as they were able to conserve this amount of pure energy throughout the show which is a feat in its own regard!
In conclusion, these are the contents of my head (the Annie Lennox show) by Salty Brine and her wonderful band which helped bring to life not only the story of Annie Lennox and bring a spotlight to the classic novel ‘The Awakening’ in a unique blend of cabaret-infused storytelling which worked beautifully with staging at the Western Studio at the Wales Millennium Centre. Salty Brine is clearly a very talented performer who thrives in this musical theatre-inspired context delivering many fantastic performances throughout! I would rate this performance four out of five stars!
Rhysreviews 