ShareJane McDonald performing her With All My Love Tour at The Royal Concert Hall Nottingham on Wednesday 13th November 2024.
Images and Review by Kevin Cooper
It has been a while since the Royal Concert Hall could actually say that there is not an available seat in the whole house but on Wednesday night for Jane McDonald, that was a claim that they could boast.
From the start it was not hard to see why she is a master of her craft, a magnificent vocalist and the queen of entertainment. With her Yorkshire accent still as strong as ever and her down to earth attitude ingratiating herself with the crowd, she took to the stage dressed in a beautiful ball gown, and opened with Winner which was followed with fans favourite Doctor’s Orders that saw the first clap along of the evening.
McDonald was a natural on stage and her sharp wit and self deprecating one-liners were delivered with such skill and comic timing as she shared her experiences from vacuuming to divorce. There were sombre moments too as she dedicated songs to departed loved ones and paid tribute to her partner who passed away in 2021.
There was the beautifully honest song, The Hand That Leads Me, and the first show tune of the night, For Good from Wicked which scored a direct hit on the emotion button.
With a number of costume changes, she opened the second set with a hugely enjoyable Cher medley of Gypsy’s Tramps And Thieves, The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss) and Strong Enough which had the crowd on their feet, before a spine tingling rendition of Rise Like A Phoenix had the crowd delivering one of several standing ovations.
Finishing with disco hits, Instant Replay, This Is It and Relight My Fire, McDonald proved that she is a first class old school entertainer with her straight talking and hilarious banter with the adoring crowd which had even included a shout out for birthdays and anniversaries.
She has come a long way since her cabaret act on the cruise ships as she stood centre stage to soak up the applause and adoration of a crowd who would gladly have spent another two hours in her company.