Elton John: Your Song | Downstairs at the Maj | Until 15 Feb | ★ ★ ★ ★ ½
Opening night performance nerves never unsettled Matthew Hadgraft, as he raced to stage complete with a huge glitter top hat, high platform shoes, a rainbow-coloured ostrich feather boa and a three-piece white suit adorned with a pom-pom trim, all rounded off with a pair of round blue-coloured glasses.
I know that seems like quite an ‘assault’ on the eyes, which it truly was, but Matthew’s entrance certainly created quite a visual spectacle, which kick-started a truly wonderful show.
For over an hour, this multi-talented performer was able to ‘pound’ the grand-piano keys and encouraged the packed crowd in a sing-along of some of Sir Elton’s biggest hits.
Dialogue flowed between the selected playlist and Matthew’s gaze on his audience never faltered; he wanted us to be apart of his world and the audience gave him this respect back. All eyes were glued on Matthew, even more so when he attempted and executed a full handstand on the grand piano stool.
His voice was on point throughout the show, even singing in a falsetto with ease, but for me sadly the backing track took the gloss off a couple of the numbers. In the songs when there was no backing track, Matthew’s voice was simply extraordinary and super powerful.
Candle In The Wind, Daniel and Tiny Dancer were three of my fave numbers.
Matthew is without doubt one of the best at his craft: a gifted piano player and singer with an extra special ability to connect with his audience.
There are only two more shows, tonight and Saturday, so my advice is to get your tickets early so that you don’t miss any of these remaining performances.
It was a memorable night, with Matthew centre stage with all those theatrics and his renditions of solid gold Elton John songs. Amazing!
See Elton John: Your Song until Saturday 15th February.
Terry Larder is the founder of Club West (1989-2015) and in this role over those years was the director/producer/compere/drag performer. He is keen to foster goodwill and nurture new and emerging artists both on-stage and off. He has been a writer for OIP since 2007, and has reviewed numerous shows as well as interviewed and written about Debbie Reynolds, Anthony Callea, James Morrison, Elaine Paige to name but a few. Terry also writes history articles for OIP and university publications.
