The West End Men in Concert

 TNT

This harmless show delivers both more and less than the title suggests – we get the four guys with West End credits it promises (though by the time you read this there’ll have been at least one scheduled cast change since opening night) but there are also a female guest appearance in the second half and a sizeable choir which materialises rather late in the day.

In the course of a little over 2 hours including interval, the curly one (Lee Mead), the short one (Glenn Carter with an impressive range), the ginger one (powerfully voiced David Thaxton) and the expensive one (Matt Willis) – the nomenclature is theirs, not mine - sing solo and harmonise agreeably in a compilation of songs from West End musicals and chart hits, backed by a five piece band led by indefatigable MD Will Stuart.

The result is a predominantly pleasing if unadventurous evening in which the quartet appear first in suits, then in jeans and finally in formal DJs.

There’s the occasional duff note and misjudged arrangement, and the roguishly slinky Willis (who made his name as one third of Busted) hasn’t yet thrown off some pop group mannerisms, but it’s easy to warm to a production which aims to cater for all ages by including such well known numbers as Memory, Close Every Door (no prizes for guessing that it’s Any Dream Will Do TV show winner Mead, who goes solo on that one), Some Enchanted Evening and Bohemian Rhapsody.

Ironically, though, it’s Kerry Ellis’s spine-tingling rendition of Defying Gravity and the stirring chorus-backed One Day More (both of which come from shows which are still going strong) which prove the highlights of the evening.

Vaudeville, Strand WC2R 0NH
Tube: Charing Cross
Until 22nd June
£20 - £47.50nimaxtheatres.com