Only an Octave Apart @ Wilton's Music Hall...

Last night Stuart and I went to see Only an Octave Apart at the Wilton's Music Hall in London's glitzy East End.

 

Hot on the heels of a sensational run in New York last year, ‘the greatest cabaret artist of their generation’ (The New Yorker) and ‘the vocally brilliant and dramatically fearless countertenor’ (The New York Times) have brought their acclaimed show to London.

 

Only An Octave Apart is Justin Vivian Bond and Anthony Roth Costanzo’s joyous and surprising musical fantasia, revelling in everything strange and beautiful in the coexistence of contrasts - from Purcell’s 17th century aria Dido’s Lament to Dido’s early 2000s hit White Flag, from Autumn Leaves to The Waters of March. 

 

Co-created and directed by Zack Winokur, with music supervision by Thomas Bartlett, arrangements by Nico Muhly, musical direction by Daniel Schlosberg, and costume design by JW Anderson, Only an Octave Apart celebrates the historical and the hysterical, from countertenor to counterculture.

 

Highlights for me in the 90 minutes, no intermission, set were:-

 

Me And My Shadow

Autumn Leaves

Two Charming Fairies (One Charming Night / There Are Faeries At The Bottom Of Our Garden Medley)

Waters Of March

Double Rainbow (I’m Always Chasing Rainbows / Rainbow Sleeves Medley)

Gluck's Deh Placatevi / Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush's Don’t Give Up Medley

Sylvester's hi-nrg disco stomper Stars

Didos (Dido’s Lament / White Flag Medley)

Egyptian Sun Medley (The Bangles' Walk Like An Egyptian / Philip Glass's Hymn To The Sun)

Queen and Bowie's Under Pressure