FROM THE HEART

Garrick Theatre

★★★★

“It is a privilege to be in the audience, sharing the celebration”

It is a little-known fact that the lyricist Don Black started out as a stand-up comedian. His career change came about when he wrote his first song while waiting for a laugh at a gig in Darlington. Okay, this is a joke, but there’s a half-truth in there and it is indicative of the dry humour of Black’s own recorded voiceover that links the set list of his musical revue “From the Heart”. Celebrating his extraordinary career that spans over five decades, Black describes it as a personal tribute to the New York cabaret scene that inspired him. It is a modest affair, and it cannot escape the formality of an ornate West End proscenium arch, but the atmosphere is intimate and, at times, we could well be in a club on 46th Street.

With just a grand piano and double bass centre stage, a cast of five deliver a mix of iconic numbers and brand-new songs written with composers such as Gary Barlow, Natasha Bedingfield, David Arnold, Debbie Wiseman and Mike Batt. Director Nick Winston’s slick structure allows the music to speak for itself, while the performers make their way through the sweeping and eclectic range of material. Frances Mayli McCann, Shona McGarty, Caroline O’Connor, Clive Rowe, and Michael D. Xavier add their own personal touch to the songs, predominately solo but bookending the show with the rousing ensemble harmonies of title song, “From the Heart”.

The nature of the show highlights Black’s virtuosity as a lyricist, exposing the inventive use of rhyme and rhythm. But we see the emotion too. When once asked if he had ever written a song specifically for his late wife of sixty years, he replied, “all of them”. Caroline O’Connor’s rendition of “Life Goes On” is a poignant moment that stays with you long after the final bars ripple through the auditorium. Similarly, Clive Rowe’s aching “I’d Go to Bed Earlier” cuts straight to the heart with his crushed-velvet voice. But it is an evening of many moods. More than a hint of Music Hall informs the choreography when Rowe is joined by Michael D. Xavier for the sparkling duet “Fizzy or Still”, a light-hearted ode to abstinence and sobriety. Shona McGarty gives us the late-night bluesy sound of “Things a Lady Shouldn’t Do”, with a smoky edge to her voice. Frances Mayli McCann switches from the up-tempo “I’ve a Hundred Things to Do Before I Die” to the later power balled “Unhealable”. Michael D. Xavier is in impossibly fine voice for “Everything but the Blame” and the gorgeous “How Do You Fall Out of Love?”

Nearly twenty songs are programmed into the evening, and each performance of the show’s West End run features a special guest singer. Tonight it is Michael Ball with his inimitable rendition of “Love Changes Everything”. Ball humbly confesses it to be an honour to be included in the bill, a sentiment we share as soon as O’Connor follows his performance with a dramatic “When No-one’s Looking”, showcasing her passionate storytelling through song.

It is a well-balanced repertoire that occasionally errs on the polite. We feel safe and are always aware of the plush theatre seats we are sitting comfortably in, rather than feeling immersed in a Manhattan basement, despite the paired-back, expressive accompaniment of Musical Director Joseph Church on piano and Oliver Copelend on double bass (Copeland’s versatility is on show throughout, his playing ranging from the impossibly fast walking bass line of “The Reluctant Star” to the haunting, bowed legato of the more plaintive melodies). The evening belongs in ‘Restaurant Row’ rather than the ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ end of 46th Street.

Black’s more familiar and iconic output is saved for the encore. The temperature rises as the cast come together for a medley of Bond tunes and other milestones from the big and small screen, closing with “Born Free”. Don Black joins the cast onstage for a few words, genuinely affected by the tribute to his music he has just seen. It’s a labour of love for Black, the idea for this show having been in his mind for quite some time. It is a privilege to be in the audience, sharing the celebration with him. It does, indeed, come from the heart.

FROM THE HEART

Garrick Theatre

Reviewed on 8th October 2026

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Eamonn B Shanahan

FROM THE HEART REVIEW

FROM THE HEART

★★★★

“the air is thick with mischief and the sense of fun that this insanely talented troupe bring to the stage is enough to win us over”

‘Transsexual Transylvaniaaa-a-a!’ comes to mind the moment James Daly’s lace-and-leather-clad, midriff-baring Dracula makes his flamboyant entrance onto the stage. But it’s a riff that’s half a century old. So the writers, Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen, need something more saucy to dollop onto the old frank-n-furter. It’s safe to say, thankfully, that they’ve dished up the magic ingredients – hundreds and thousands of them in fact, sacrilegiously scattered all over Bram Stoker’s gothic masterpiece. It’s the theatrical equivalent of popping candy, that fizzles in your mouth and leaves you giggling with effervescent joy. Chuck in some camp, gender-swapping, costume-changing, character-bending humour; a touch of gore, and rapid-fire one-liners and you eventually arrive at the imperfect feast that is “Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors”. Faithful(ish) to Bram Stoker’s original, it still takes succulent chunks of the story’s flesh and regurgitates it dripping with frivolity. As the writers themselves have said of the novel: ‘anything that takes itself that seriously is a prime target for satire’.

As the houselights fade, we are plunged into a cacophony of darkness and noise, rather like entering a ghost train at a fairground. Tijana Bjelajac’s shadowy set reflects this kind of clubland-meets-circus atmosphere, while Tristan Raine’s costumes blend Victoriana with novelty, giving hints of steampunk. Clever use of props and puppets add to the magic, while the many costume changes are acrobatic feats – one in particular drawing its own round of applause. But the main attraction is the juggling act in which the cast of five play a whole horde of madcap characters.

Little time is spent in Transylvania itself. Jonathan Harker (a wonderfully goofy and uptight Charlie Stemp) rocks up at Dracula’s castle to clinch a lucrative property deal with the count. James Daly’s Dracula is the archetypal image of the narcissistic Rock Star – money and sex on tap but still wanting more. The sexual tension between him and Harker is palpable, until Dracula diverts his bloodthirsty attentions onto Harker’s fiancé, Lucy. By now we are back in Whitby, not exactly the kind of seaside town you have in mind for a queer pilgrimage. Dracula meets his match with the array of kooky individuals he comes up against. Safeena Ladha is headstrong and assertive as Lucy. Her rather downtrodden sister, Mina, is played by Sebastien Torkia, complete with ginger wig and ruffled ballgowns. Dianne Pilkington is their father, Dr. Westfield, who has turned their house into a live-in retreat for society’s oddballs (all played with a vaudevillian hilarity by them all).

You know the story, and how it ends. It’s the treatment that stands out. Co-writer Greenberg also directs, his hand visibly cracking the whip to keep the pace as frenetic as the lunacy. After the initial set-up, however, the humour is relatively conventional. More panto than subversive. The melodrama is kicked to the rafters even if some of the jokes don’t aim quite so high. But the air is thick with mischief and the sense of fun that this insanely talented troupe bring to the stage is enough to win us over. It is all very silly and chaotic, but delivered with precision and comic timing you could die for. But it doesn’t quite draw blood. It is more like a love-bite than a sharp set of fangs puncturing our skin. Then again – that’s probably a good thing. Definitely worth staking out.

Tag Archives: Ben Cracknell

FROM THE HEART

★★★★★

Garrick Theatre

FROM THE HEART

Garrick Theatre

★★★★

“It is a privilege to be in the audience, sharing the celebration”