Review – Bel Canto Bowie
I have a confession to make. I was, at one point, a David Bowie obsessive. I listened to all his albums up to Let’s Dance religiously, and in a childish bout of hero worship I once put a streak of carrot-coloured dye in my hair as a sign of Bowie solidarity. So it was with a little trepidation that I perched myself on a bar stool in La Bohème, the venue of DIY Donna’s production Bel Canto Bowie. Bel canto is a style of classical singing synonymous with Mozart, and I was worried that Natalie Oliveri and Adriana Sturman, in their performance and debut writing roles, would not fare well in translating David Bowie classics like “Life on Mars” to this obscure operatic tradition.
The characters, Pasqualina and Maria Maria, are two Roman Catholic Italian choir girls who develop a devotion to Bowie that soon overtakes their devotion to God. Something about this analogy of Bowie as a literal lord and saviour will hold a strong appeal for anyone who has at some point in their lives experienced a Bowie fixation.
Oliveri and Sturman fare very well in the performance of these beloved Bowie songs. They are technically accomplished singers and their facial expressions are riotous. Wisely, the performers chose many of the earlier glam-rock pieces to adapt, which lend themselves to the kind of self-conscious high camp which a performance like this really needs in order to sparkle.
If there is one thing I could fault in the performance it would be the acting portions. The performance I saw got off to a shaky start when the pianist began the show playing Debussy, while cursing under his breath how annoying “choir girls” are. This created an uncomfortable tension in the audience, as although we sensed that this man’s presence was supposed to be humorous, nobody laughed – save for a very enthusiastic lady in the back. And when the Italian choir girls finally arrived their Italian accents were so excessively Italian that at times they sounded worryingly similar to Jar Jar Binks of Star Wars fame.
But whilst some non-musical sections may have failed to elicit much audience appreciation, it is the quality of the musical performances that really makes this show worth seeing, and if you are a Bowie fan in any capacity then this show may just be to your liking.
