REVIEW: Faenol Festival (John Barrowman, Shan Cothi)

Aug 27 2008 By Judith Phillips

FOR people who may only know him from his acting role in the BBC’s Torchwood, or as a judge on TV reality shows, John Barrowman’s larger than life performance at last weekend’s Faenol Festival came as a revelation.

The man nicknamed "leather lungs" by West End critics showed he is a true showman with a superb baritone voice and a personality to match. On a chilly Sunday evening he urged the audience to "cuddle together for warmth" and then blasted them with the heat of a 110 octane performance.

With support from a tremendous backing band he belted out songs from his forthcoming album Music Music Music and then showed he has a more sensitive side by singing the haunting ballad I Know Him So Well from the musical Chess with Any Dream Will Do finalist Daniel Boys. Originally performed by Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson, I’d never before heard it sung as a male duet but they carried it off superbly.

Daniel Boys didn’t win the competition to find someone to star as Joseph in the West End revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat but he impressed judge John enough for him to invite him to support him at Faenol, and his confidence was justified as Boys has a superb voice and engaging stage presence.

Jodie Prenger, who won I'd Do Anything, the reality show to find a Nancy for the forthcoming revival of Lionel Bart’s Oliver!, showed she has true star quality. The warmth of her personality and engaging wit quickly won the audience over and her voice and acting skills brought a tear to the eye with her performance of the classic Send in the Clowns.

But the quality act of the evening was Wales’s own West End star Shan Cothi whose soaring soprano voice enchanted and enthralled at the same time. At the end the four joined together to sing You’ll Never Walk Alone and were given a lengthy standing ovation.