FOUR key changes and a Beyonce Knowles cover is the way to finish any cabaret, with the condition that it is sung well.
Fiona Carty's rendition of Love On Top set the final bar so high it was nigh impossible for any of her fellow students to get a look-in when it came to the final curtain call of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland's Wednesday night performance of Candid Cabaret.
Having performed in preview last week at the New Athenaeum, the MA Musical Theatre students took to the west end stage in Oran Mor, a venue crying out for more cabaret-style performances. Over the four nights, different combinations of students tried to win over the crowd with carefully chosen songs (with the help of four RCS musical director mentors) and a reflective, sometimes confessional approach.
The varied mid-week programme saw four very different performance styles: Dunfermline's Douglas Walker focused on identity and had more popular tracks from Paolo Nutini and Newton Faulkner; Jocelyn Regina had written much of her own material, which saw her struggling with middle-child syndrome and her Canadian home-schooled, perfectionist tendencies; and Seattle's Amy Brewer played it for laughs in perhaps the least polished but most endearing performance, complete with NYC-inspired proptails.
Fiona Carty's cabaret set, however, was that rare thing: honest and funny revelations combined with killer vocals and a perfectly varied programme. From Bruce Springsteen to Liam Clancy, she nailed it every time. Her Irish-comic timing was well honed too, with a nice balance between girlie innocence and far more knowing banter. The camaraderie on stage (and also audible behind the make-shift "back-stage" curtains) should also be commended, and curiosity for what the other evenings may have proffered is a sure sign of the cabaret's ultimate success.
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