50 Favourite Musicals: 22: HOW LUCKY CAN YOU GET (1985) (John Kander / Fred Ebb)

The 50 shows that have stood out down the years and, as we get up among the paint cards, the shows that have become the cast recording of my life:

First performed: 1985, Donmar Warehouse, London

First seen by me: as above

Productions seen: one

Score: John Kander / Fred Ebb
Plot:  Four West End stars deliver a song-by-song tribute to the dazzling songbook of John Kander and Fred Ebb.

Five memorable numbers: MAYBE THIS TIME, A QUIET THING, ARTHUR IN THE AFTERNOON, THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER; CITY LIGHTS

Before the Donmar was taken over by Sam Mendes in 1992 to become a proper producing theatre and quickly established itself as one of THE important theatres in London, it had been run as a fringe space with an ever-changing array of shows such as stand-up, Edinburgh Festival transfers and an important performance space for cabaret singers who were bereft of small spaces to accommodate them "off-West End".  In 1985, the musicals star David Kernan started a season of shows called SHOW PEOPLE that consisted of evening performances and late night shows at the weekend.  The inaugural show was KERN GOES TO HOLLYWOOD, a tribute to Jerome Kern based on the old SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM format of songs linked loosely by biographical information - indeed Kernan revived SIDE BY SIDE itself the following year.  But one of the first late-night and weekend shows was Ian Judge's wonderful HOW LUCKY CAN YOU GET - a tribute to the dazzling back catalogue of John Kander and Freb Ebb.  It's stellar cast included veteran West End star Josephine Blake - recently returned to the London stage from semi-retirement, the current stars Angela Richards and the unstoppable Diane Langton, and the lone male performer was Martin Smith, a late replacement after Ray Evans pulled out.  Judge dropped the linking device and let the songs speak for themselves, drawn from the Kander & Ebb shows FLORA THE RED MENACE, CABARET, THE HAPPY TIME, 70 GIRLS 70, CHICAGO, THE ACT, WOMAN OF THE YEAR and their latest show THE RINK; the show also included songs from their film and tv work such as LIZA WITH A Z, FUNNY LADY and LOVE FROM A TO Z.  All of them turned in fantastic performances and a few have now - for me - become definitive.  Diane Langton was always one of my favourite West End belters and here she excelled: her "Maybe This Time" will never be bettered - as she sang the final "Maybe This Time / I'll Win", she soared up the notes on "...Iaaaaaaaaaaaaall Win" all on a single sensational breath; equally her version of "A Quiet Thing" was wonderfully sung, going large in the middle section before bringing it back down to almost a whisper, and "Arthur In The Afternoon" gave her ample opportunity to connect to her audience as only she could.  Jo Blake found a natural home in the gimlet-eyed cynicism of Kander & Ebb's songbook and turned in memorable performances of "City Lights" and in "The Grass Is Always Greener" duet with Angela Richards who herself turned in a magnetic performance of "I In My Chair", almost a one-act play of marital betrayal.  Martin Smith's easy charm resulted in sweet performances of "Mr Cellophane" and "Sometimes A Day Goes By" - what a loss it was when he died in 1994 from an AIDS-related illness.

Sadly no video exists of HOW LUCKY CAN YOU GET but a number of it's songs feature in ths glorious celebration of Kander and Ebb musicals from the 1984 Tony Awards, the year before this show.  Sit back and let Liza, Chita, Gwen and Raquel (!) have a Diva-off...