Tucked under the Brasserie Zedel at Piccadilly Circus, Crazy Coqs is London’s cute and glamorous cabaret space. For three performances, it is playing host to Hugh Panaro, Broadway legend.
Man Without A Mask has a selection of songs from a wide-ranging career and references Panaro’s two runs as the Phantom of the Opera (he previously played Raoul).
So we get both a sweet rendition of “All I Ask Of You” (with special guest and self-confessed lifetime fan Christina Bianco) and a sensual “Music of the Night.”
But the latter song closed off the main programme, and by then, the fifty strong audience had been thoroughly entertained. At the start of the show, Panaro took his time reaching the stage, using “Something’s Coming” from West Side Story to wander through the room.
This is a singer with quite a range, as much at home with a Show Boat medley (London debut, 1998) as “Why God Why?” from Miss Saigon (he never did get cast in that).
He has quite an array of stories. Sondheim tells him off for mouthing other actors’ lyrics in Sweeney Todd. He’s invited to perform with Barbra Streisand on tour (leading into an emotive version of “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers”).
He remembers fallen friends in the business, as many do, with a deeply emotive “Empty Chairs and Empty Tables,” and talks about Hal Prince and Rebecca Luker as his watching angel.
It isn’t all about the hit shows. Lescat, written by Elton John/Bernie Taupin, in which Carolee Carmello, Panaro’s love interest in another show, now played his mother, had a truncated run.
The Red Shoes and Martin Guerre (“they are bringing it back and trying to fix it, again”) were even shorter runs, but no matter. It is Phantom, which brought Panaro to prominence, with more than 2,000 performances.
With Bianco, he also shows a sense of fun in impersonating Broadway stars in song. While she has a note-perfect Julie Andrews, he has a smashing Cher, Liza, and Louis Armstrong.
This is a performer who is clearly relishing an intimate venue, working the room with ease. His director, Richard-Jay Alexander, is in a far corner of the space.
His musical director and pianist, Joseph Thalken, is himself a charismatic presence, especially when introducing a song from his own musical about Joyce Hatto, Inventions for Piano.
With Nick Laughlin on bass, this is a tight musical unit, comfortable with both Peter Pan and Sweeney Todd (“a strange double bill” Panaro was taken to in 1979, cementing the love for theatre and performance he had found watching Annie).
It’s always interesting watching a performer make a song their own, and Panaro’s easy manner and vocal power made this well worth accepting an invite.
Hugh Panaro: Man Without A Mask plays Crazy Coqs today at 5pm (guest: Liz Callaway) and tomorrow at 7pm (guest: Laura Pitt-Pulford, post-show Q&A with Edward Seckerson).
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