Naomi Price as Adele in Rumour Has It. Photograph by Dylan Evans.
Adele’s life is every bit as exhilarating as her extraordinary soulful and expressive voice. A brilliant song-writer, Adele has released just three critically acclaimed studio albums that include many number one hits, winning numerous awards, while having the distinction of being one of the best-selling recording artists in the world with sales of more than 100 million records.
Born in the lower-class suburb of Tottenham in north London, Adele was raised by her single mother, demonstrating an early gift for singing which led to her attending the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology, where her career was launched at the tender age of 16.
In this tribute to Adele, who will be making her first live appearances in Australia (including at the Gabba in Brisbane in March) the multi-talented Naomi Price repeats her award-winning portrayal of the superstar in this newly revitalised stage show, Rumour Has It, named after one of Adele’s early hits.
The talented Naomi Price, of The Voice Australia fame, demonstrates her impressive vocal agility in taking on Adele’s wide-ranging jazz and soul repertoire, sprinkled with a few lyrical gems while imbuing the songs with a raw empathy that is at the heart of Adele’s success. Additionally Price has an uncanny ability to get right under the skin of Adele herself, not only in bringing her story to life with just the right blend of self-deprecating humour and audience interaction, but also by demonstrating physically, through costume and make-up, the essence of the star herself. This was so successful that one often felt we were watching the real Adele herself, so eerily accurate were Price’s observations. Moreover, she articulated Adele’s Tottenham accent, complete with its cockney glottal stop, to perfection and was insightful about the ‘naughty’ down-to-earth working class star, known for her expletive-laden language, including anecdotes about The Spice Girls and Donald Trump, among others. We were given a rounded view of the complexity of stardom and fame, as Adele herself might see it.
Musically, Price was supported by her terrific 4 piece band of: Michael Manikus, piano; Mik Easterman, drums; Jason McGregor, guitar and Scott French, bass. Three vocalists: Luke Kennedy, Rachel Everett-Jones and Lai Utovou added greatly to the performance with a solid backing. A highlight of the Powerhouse performances was the addition of the Camerata, Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra, with orchestrations that allowed the string players to add lustre and depth to many of Adele’s powerful key songs, giving the flavour of a rich symphonic sound.
One element of the show that had strong resonance was the design – the brick wall backing of the Powerhouse theatre with its range of lighting effects using lampshades of all kinds and shapes, some upside down, that emulated the design of ‘Set Fire to the Rain’ at the Albert Hall in 2009. Visually interesting, it allowed Jason Glenwright’s lighting to dazzle or be intimate, as required.
Production values were high and the polished performance was well balanced musically in the two halves. Naomi Price gave us most of Adele’s hits, starting with ‘Rumour Has It’, ‘Rolling in the Deep’ and ‘Turning Tables’, interspersing these songs and the early 2007 ‘Hometown Glory’ with comments about her young life, her family and her absent dad. There was a cleverly arranged medley of Spice Girls songs that evolved into the second hit single, ‘Chasing Pavements’, clearly demonstrating their influence on her teenage years. Of particular note were two lyrical songs. An early ballad about her first love, ‘Daydreamer’, with accompaniment on guitar, was expertly realised by Price. Bob Dylan’s beautiful ‘Make you feel my love’, a song that Adele made her own in 2010, was one of the highlights of the show, sensitively sung by Price and accompanied by McGregor but also with an exquisite violin solo from Camerata’s Brendan Joyce.
Price commenced the second half with a glittering full-on sonic attack on the senses with the James Bond’s theme to ‘Skyfall’, the song that won Adele an Oscar and a Golden Globe. Camerata shone in this work, as did Price and her backing singers set on a deep blue stage. The musical arrangements for ‘Take It All’ from the second album and ‘Hello’ from the third album included terrific orchestration for the strings. Price set up Adele’s most famous and poignant song, ‘Someone Like You’ with false starts and humorous melodies so that it was tantalisingly sweet when the song finally arrived. Adele pertinently wrote ‘I don’t think that I will ever write a better song than this’ and Price delivered a heart-wrenching, flawless performance.
The final section of the show involved all the musicians having an opportunity to showcase their individual talents, woven into bright and vivacious encores of ‘Rumour Has It’, ‘Rolling in the Deep’ and ‘Skyfall’ to bring the concert to a magnificent crescendo that elicited a standing ovation from the audience.
Rumour Has It is a fabulous upbeat show, a joyous, heart-warming celebration of a major musical talent, performed with love, passion and skill by equally talented Australian artists led by the incomparable Naomi Price. It now embarks on a 9 month Australia-wide tour. Catch it if you can, as it should not be missed.
Star rating: 4 1/2 stars out of 5
The Little Red Company presents
Rumour Has It
Starring Naomi Price as Adele
Vocalists: Luke Kennedy, Rachel Everett-Jones, Lai Utovou
Guitars: Jason McGregor
Drums: Mik Easterman
Bass: Scott French
Piano: Michael Manikus
With special guests, The Camerata of St. Johns, led by Artistic Director Brendan Joyce
Lighting Design: Jason Glenwright
Sound Design: Jamie Taylor
Costumes: Leigh Buchanan & Nathalie Ryner
Brisbane Powerhouse
Friday 13 and Saturday 14 January 2017
