Two Turtle Doves
Dillie Keane and Barb Jungr with Sarah Travis
Crazy Coqs, London and touring
Star rating: 5
A feel-good show which exudes humour, talent and effortless musicality, this 75 minute Christmas cabaret concert is delightful.
Actually, of course, that musicality isn’t effortless at all. Dillie Keane and Barb Jungr are both first and foremost highly accomplished musicians who’ve been honing their considerable skills (composing, playing, singing, arranging and more) for decades. In this show I was particulay struck by how good Jungr is on the harmonium in a Bob Dylan number, for example.
Their Christmas Show ranges from the very funny to the seasonally poignant. Keane is especially good when she adopts the native accent of her Irish parents in, for example, the Twelve Days of Christmas told as a series of ever more distressed thank you letters from the recipient. I’ve heard this before (on radio) and it’s even more hilarious when done live with Keane’s masterful comic timing. Another wonderful number is her account of Grant Baynham’s Wine Song which sends up people who are pretentious about wine and unashamedly praises its capacity to get you drunk.
Jungr meanwhile gives us a lovely account of Santa, Teach Me To Drive with Keane harmonising and their Egg Nog song and Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer, both of which are dueted are great fun. They work seamlessly together in a show which is meant to feel relaxed and spontaneous.
Arguably, perhaps (and Keane and Jungr do say it) the real star of this show is Tony award-winning pianist Sarah Travis, the perfect accompanist who catches every pause and sings occasional harmonic lines at the same time. A player of her talent would enhance any performance, anywhere.
We hear a lot these days about ageism and marginalisation of older women in the performing arts industries. So it adds an additional level of pleasure to spend an hour or so with two septuagenarian women both so gleefully at the top of their game.
I have to say, though, hugely enjoyable as this show is, I don’t like Crazy Coqs as a venue. The seating is cramped. You have to put up with waiting staff taking orders and, disturbingly, bringing them to tables during the performance. They messed up my bill and charged me for everyone at my table. And the lavatories are totally inadequate for the numbers.
