“Six Shows-One Day At The Fringe” Reviewed by Martha Hudak

My last day with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe was seeing six shows produced by Night Owl Productions in one afternoon and evening. The company produces what they call sosong-documentariesThese are not just cover bands, they are revues of a singer songwriter with the vocalist providing historical background of the individual in addition to projections of interviews about the person. The bevy of talent in the company is passionate about playing different roles and instruments among their various revues. Among the six revues I saw, every single one was outstanding.

007 Voices of Bond
The powerful voice of Maia Estley sang through the chronology of James Bond movie theme songs, starting with Goldfinger. With each, she provided commentary about the singer and movie. Starting with Goldfinger by Shirley Bassey, she pointed out that Casino Royale in 2006 was the only duo of a Bond theme song with Jack White and Alicia Keys. Maia went through all eight songs with her beautiful and smooth voice, ending with No Time to Die originally recorded by Billie Eilish.

Aretha Franklin Story
This revue opened with a projection of Aretha Franklin’s father talking about his daughter as Cleopatra Higgins opened with Son of a Preacher Man. She provides well-known commentary to Americans about the difficulty the Queen of Soul had getting started and the discrimination she faced. Aretha’s songs are difficult to sing, but Cleopatra powerfully delivered such well-known songs as Chain of Fools, R.E.S.P.E.C.T., Think, Sisters and Amazing Grace with typical Aretha style and passion that brought standing ovations.

Fleetwood Mac Story
Musicians opened with an outstanding instrumental number that blended well in their delivery. It brought the audience to their feet, where they stayed the rest of the show. Singers representing the voices of Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie were then brought on for Black Majic Woman. Wonderful homage was paid to Christine McVie, whose varied background that she brought the group was less known than other members. She wrote several of their songs and was considered a prime mover behind the group, who sold more than 120 million records. Phoebe Katis singing as Stevie Nicks performed to a dancing, enthusiastic crowd that included such songs as The Chain, Everywhere, Landslide and Albatross. The show was sold out every night during the Fringe. Phoebe became touchingly emotional toward the end praising everyone in the band as this was the last show before leaving Edinburgh.

Whitney Houston Story
Cleopatra Higgins appears again as Whitney Houston, who received 657 awards during her lifetime. She beautifully and intensely sang Whitney’s biggest hits, including I Wanna Dance With Somebody, I’m Every Woman and Higher Love. Toward the end of her performance, she became emotional at the beginning of I Will Always Love You, enough to take a break and recompose herself. It was the last night of performing at the Fringe to sold out and enthusiastic audiences, and this audience was no less so. She also didn’t dwell on Whitney’s tragedies in life, and instead, paid respects to her amazing accomplishments of more than 200 million record sales.

Burt Bacharach Story
An audience of a mostly older crowd heard Angus Munroe and Maia Estley sing a repertoire of Burt Bacharach’s hits. As a child, Burt had no interest in music despite his mother forcing him into piano lessons. He was more interested in playing sports, but was too small, and neither was he academic. He really wanted to follow his father into the military. As he finally started entering the music business in the early 1950s, antisemitism was another barrier he experienced. The match up with Hal David in New York and later Dionne Warwick led to several hits in the 1960s. Angus and Maia were wonderful with such songs as Raindrops Are Falling on My Head, What’s It All About Alfie, The Look of Love and Do You Know the Way to Santa Fe. Bacharach wrong beautiful songs that younger generations should get to know. Shows like this are an opportunity to introduce them to Burt Bacharach.
Billy Joel Story
Angus Monroe sang Billy Joel songs, played keyboard, harmonica and sax during this revue. He started by talking about his father leaving when he was 10 and his mother emphasizing the piano. Billy Joel was determined to be a singer songwriter, and at 15, got his first record deal with a group called The Lost Souls. He flunked out of high school, then recorded two albums with another group called The Hassles. Angus introduces the audience to some of these early unknown songs before enthusiastically singing and playing such better known songs as New York State of Mind, She’s Got a Way About Her, Piano Man and ending with Uptown Girl. This multi-talented performer brings humor about Billy Joel throughout the revue to a highly responsive audience.
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