If there’s one thing I miss about being a journo (and there is only one), it’s all the free theater tickets I used to enjoy. Some weeks I’d see three or four shows—I must have clocked up thousands of pounds in complimentary performances over the years, not to mention all the interval drinks given gratis …
Judy Whitmore’s records take me right back to those heady days of free seats and house red. Records by the veteran cabaret singer and theater producer (amongst many other things, for which see my review of her last record, Come Fly With Me) have a definite Broadway vibe, with a sizable cast of string and brass players drawn from the Chris Walden Orchestra supporting her well enunciated, leading-lady-like vocals.
The arrangements also have something of the stage about them—take “Taking a Chance on Love,” which opens with Whitmore singing over sparse piano chords which gradually blossom into a lush backing track. It definitely evokes those points in a stage show where the protagonist’s spoken lines transition smoothly into a musical number.
If all this sounds more Playbill than Syncopated Times, consider that the tunes herein are all taken straight from the Great American Songbook—you won’t find anything from Cats or Starlight Express on this disc, so don’t panic. Think the Gershwins’ “I’ve Got a Crush on You,” Ray Noble’s “The Very Thought of Y
