Liza (On An E)

        This is a show that at first you think not everyone will love. NOT TRUE. Trevor Ashley, who is an Australian musical theatre star, makes his West End debut as the iconic Liza Minnelli. Bringing this larger than life woman to the London stage Trevor both laughs AT her life, but shows a true love and affection for the lady he is impersonating.

       The show is playing at The Vaudeville Theatre. Certainly from the stalls this feels like a very intimate theatre, which suits the show perfectly. With the obligatory London theatre red seats, but magnificent white and gold walls, you could almost be at an opera house. It certainly feels a lot more special and upmarket than many other theatres in the West End. The stall seating nearer the front if quite flat, so ones view can be obstructed slightly be the people in front. I was in seat F15 and had a lovely view. With an audience made up of a lot at Liza fans, it was a wonderfully entertaining and memorable evening. There was also a lovely atmosphere before the show with people talking and chatting, about Liza and about looking forward to seeing the show.

       It was slightly disappointing, but not totally unexpected, that there was no programme for the show. There was a free A4 printout of people involved in the show, but nothing one would consider a programme. I would have like something with a bit about Trevor's career and past shows he's done. You can buy a CD of him performing the show live in Melbourne, which is only £12. With the hit songs you'd expect teamed with some that you wouldn't think of. The live band on stage really adds to the atmosphere and makes it much more of a concert than a show.

       You can see throughout the show, that Trevor has an obvious love for and admiration towards Liza herself. With wonderful comic timing and exuberant characterisation, he makes a lovable personality even more lovable. At times the whole theatre were in fits of laughter. As someone who isn't a major Liza fan, I have now fallen in love thanks to him. Trevor is a little bigger than Liza and he doesn't look exactly like her, but that soon gets forgotten with his ability to capture Liza's mannerisms perfectly. His voice is also exceptionally close to the real thing. He spoke in his natural voice at the end of the show, and I was shocked at just how strong his Australian accent was. It was amazing how well he was ably to subdue it and in fact make it completely disappear for the show. During the short interval and after the show, I overheard a lot of people say that they were big fans of Liza and that the show was fantastic. You cant get much better than true fans of Liz loving the show.

       You need to be quick at its only on for a limited time. First night was yesterday and it finishes on the 18th May. There are only 5 more shows. With prices from just £17.50 to £38.50 its well within the budget of most people. The only thing is that the theatre only accepts cash, so go prepared. If you can get a ticket, GET IT!! Tickets and Info