Review: Craving Andrew Lloyd Webber power ballads? Try ‘Tell Me On a Sunday' at Theo
If you are a fan of the excellent Max 'dockumentary' called 'Yacht Rock,' a look without condescension at a genre of music mastered by the likes of Michael McDonald, Toto and Christopher Cross, let me draw your attention to Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Tell Me on a Sunday,' now at Evanston's Theo Theatre on Howard Street.
Lloyd Webber is of course the composer of such mega-musicals as 'The Phantom of the Opera' and 'Sunset Boulevard,' shows influenced more by Giacomo Puccini than the Doobie Brothers. But in 1980, he wrote this solo piece with lyricist Don Black and input from Tim Rice. It's really a one-act song cycle, about an eternally optimistic young English woman (not unlike Aimee Lou Wood's character in 'White Lotus') trying to find her way in the transactional New York City.
This isn't a show anyone would likely write now; the male-created character, originally known only as 'The Girl,' mostly is defined through a series of failed relationships punctuated by letters home to her mum. But it's interesting because it came as Lloyd Webber was exploring a new genre of lite rock, to use the 1980s term. And 'Tell Me on a Sunday' contains three of his best power ballads: 'Take That Look Off Your Face,' which went to number three in the U.K. charts, 'Unexpected Song,' a killer earworm, and 'Come Back with the Same Look in Your Eyes,' a deliciously emotional song of longing and regret.
Since 'Tell on a Sunday' is only about 70 minutes, it was combined on Broadway and in London with a second movement-oriented piece under the billing 'Song and Dance.' But 'Tell Me on a Sunday,' rarely is performed today.
The show at Theo features Dani Pike in the one and only role, with a live band in the back of this intimate space. Notably, it's directed by Keely Vasquez, who worked for years with the great Barry Manilow all over the world and knows her way backward and forward around this particular genre.
Pike is completely different from Marti Webb and Bernadette Peters, both of whom I saw play this role eons ago. Her voice is rich, gritty and unabashedly pop-forward, meaning that these particular Lloyd Webber numbers sit well within her performance. This archetype is a tough character to pull off, but Pike fleshes out her force of personality and vulnerability to circumstance very nicely indeed, even as she and Vasquez clearly understand that this show is about the songs and, well, about the 1980s and all it represented.
Anathema for some. Retro pleasure for anyone with tastes like mine. Especially when sung and acted at this level.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
Review: 'Tell Me on a Sunday' (3.5 stars)
When: Through April 20
Where: Theo Theatre, 721 Howard St., Evanston
Running time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Tickets: $45-$60 at 773-939-4101 and theo-u.com
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