Afternoon:
15°c
London faces a wave of bus and Tube strikes that could cause chaos for millions of passengers as unions walkout over pay and conditions
More...
An awesome and ridiculous film that leaves you thrilled beyond the point of your natural endurance
2012
Theatre
The show has suddenly become quite wonderful, and the galvanising factor is the terrific stage debut of Melanie C
Blood Brothers
Music
The British pop music industry may be eating itself but if Muse are the pick of what it can offer the world in 2010 then British music is in rude health indeed
Muse
I was smitten by both Gilberts enormous luxuriant moustache and the intelligence and nuance of this highly entertaining play
I totally recommend Babbo to anyone who is looking for really good and traditional Italian food
Always been a fan but never seen them live. I was ecstatic to be part of this epic event. WOW!
London,
Henry Hitchings's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Terry Johnson.
Cast: Diana Vickers, Marc Warren, Lesley Sharp, James Cartwright, Rachel Lumbert
Description: A revival of Jim Cartwright's comedy-drama about a gifted young singer whose talent attracts unwanted attention. Directed by Terry Johnson and starring former X Factor contestant Diana Vickers.
Times: Mon-Sat 7.30pm, mats Wed, Sat 2.30pm, extra mats Dec 24 & 28, 2.30pm, no eve perf Dec 24, no perf Dec 25, booking to Jan 30
Price: £16-£48.50
Trains: Tube/BR: Charing Cross 
Phone: 0870890 0511
Website: www.nimaxtheatres.com
Soaring: Diana Vickers has presence and vocal charisma in the title role
Jim Cartwright’s play, first staged at the National in 1992, is constructed around a virtuoso performance. At its centre is LV, a painfully shy teenager who seeks solace in her dead father’s record collection while her embarrassingly lively mother Mari seeks it in the arms of men.
LV’s secret is that she can exquisitely impersonate the singers her father cherished. Mari belittles LV’s gift, yet when it comes to the attention of her new squeeze, small-time impresario Ray Say, he sees an opportunity too juicy to pass up.
What follows is broadly predictable: The Rise and Fall of Little Voice is amusing, affecting and decidedly old-fashioned. Now and then it rambles, particularly when LV’s admirer Billy is to the fore, and there are some undeniably saccharine touches. But it has emotional marrow as well as passages of spirited horseplay and Terry Johnson’s revival accentuates its pathos and hilarity.
Gallery: Little Voice press night
Lesley Sharp (the lugubriously business-like Louise in Mike Leigh’s Naked), revels in Mari’s chaos and brassy excess. It’s a brilliantly uninhibited performance, especially relishable when Mari is vamping it up to excite her beau.
She inhabits every nook of Lez Brotherston’s lovingly detailed design, abetted by her quietly shambolic friend Sadie (Rachel Lumberg, a delight). Hers is the kind of house where there’s gin in the fridge door — and inside a beanbag.
This doesn’t unsettle Marc Warren’s Ray, a sort of urban gunslinger who could be a refugee from Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights. Warren is poised and creepy; he lacks only a redeeming hint of vulnerability.
The title role is the key. Created for Jane Horrocks, it belongs here to Diana Vickers, previously known for being a semi-finalist in ITV’s The X Factor. While Vickers’s acting may not have great range, it’s winsome. And when she sings she soars.
The most thrilling sequence comes when she slips from Dusty Springfield into Marilyn Monroe, and then dashes through Judy Garland, Marianne Faithfull, Julie Andrews, Shirley Bassey and Edith Piaf. She has presence and vocal charisma, and only when she switches to her own voice, performing a new song by Mark Owen, does she seem less than radiantly polished.
Though the title suggests tragic inflections, this is a feelgood play, and Terry Johnson’s production confidently hits the top notes.
Until 30 January 2010
(020 7432 4220).
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Thanks, for this wonderful, witty comment on Miss Vickers. You made me travel from XXIst century Venezuela to London sixties:
"The most thrilling sequence comes when she slips from Dusty Springfield into Marilyn Monroe, and then dashes through Judy Garland, Marianne Faithfull, Julie Andrews, Shirley Bassey and Edith Piaf. She has presence and vocal charisma, and only when she switches to her own voice, performing a new song by Mark Owen, does she seem less than radiantly polished".
Diana Vickers is a fine new Little Voice in a big role
A BRAVO!!!, for Mr. Henry Hitchings, Evening Standard 21.10.09.
- Hernán Rubin, Caraballeda, state of Vargas, Venezuela
We were very impressed with Diana Vickers in her first theatre performance. We felt she gave a very convincing performance as she conveyed very well LV's shyness. We also thought Lesley Sharp was also excellent as the mother.
- Lauren, London
