By Peter Maddern
Local girl, Johanna Allen is back again for the Cabaret Festival but no one should feel ‘been there, done that.’
Taking on the songs from Harold Arlen, nee Hyman Arluck, the show travels the usual path of song and chat, giving titbits about the life and times of her subject that got going in the mid 1920s and which starting losing their commercial lustre at the end of the 1950s.
But what separates out The Songs that Got Away is the pace of it all. This starts out as 1920s razzamatazz in New York’s Cotton Club and Allen never lets her audience think about anything other than her and the various women who, as time would have it, were fortunate to sing Arlen’s songs; from Ethel Waters and Peggy Lee to Lena Horne and, of course, Judy Garland. For, as Johanna emphasises effectively, Arlen knew no other way than to communicate his feelings via his music.
Of course, Allen tantalises with her vocal talents, rousing her audience often to exclaim their appreciation for the renditions before they delivered to her a much deserved standing ovation.
Funny, charming, sexy, at times sombre but also uplifting, this is one excellent show, a highlight of the entire Festival and a delightful trip down memory lane for those who remember the era or who have also danced themselves over the rainbow.
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