Shelley Rivers greets her audience in a pageant like sparkly blue dress. Her delicate voice echos over the microphone and she sings with undeniable grace.
The Stage Door Theatre is a small venue within a Greene King pub, in London’s West End. The room filled with an older crowd, who all seemingly knew of Rivers before. It was odd to have such grandeur, both visually and vocally, in such a venue.
Rivers takes the audience – for one night – on a guided tour of her career, singing songs varying from The Phantom Of the Opera to Titanic. My particular favourite was The Little Mermaid’s ‘Part of Your World’. There is a youthful glow and personable energy that comes with River’s stage presence, although I can’t help but feel it was a show made for her fans.
As someone with no prior knowledge of her work or talent, I can with no doubt say she has an extremely impressive voice. Nonetheless, talent is only one piece of the puzzle, especially in London’s oversaturated market, one must bring more to the table to enchant the audience. If this performance was specifically targeted for River’s fans, then I am sure her list of songs would have gone down well, and looking at the audience it did. However, as a ‘Rivers newbie’, the production value was low and thus not particularly captivating.
It was mentioned she works on cruise ships, and I would be pleasantly surprised if she was on mine, but for the calibre of productions currently available, this show cannot compete.
Starring: Shelley Rivers
Venue: The Stage Door Theatre – Drury Lane
Review by Sofia Moran