REVIEW: The Masters Of The House - Theatre Royal, Wakefield.

It’s been three whole years since I had my second instalment of the quartet that is “The Masters of the House” (the first time being some four or five years before in Stevenage), so I was eager for tonight’s performance at Wakefield’s Theatre Royal. Although the line up has changed slightly each time I’ve caught the quartet over the last decade at a venue close to whichever place I’ve called “home” at the time of the tour, what hasn’t changed is the quality of the performers. Each cast member comes from an extensive background in Musical and West End Theatre; the two hour show is made up of the most well-loved show tunes, featuring hits from shows such as Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera and Evita to name but a few.

Tonight’s Fab Four consisted of Sara Louisa Parry, Jayne O’Mahony (one of the original members of The Masters of the House), James and John (unfortunately I wasn’t able to catch their surnames and they are not currently listed on the official website as cast members).

As always, the stage was set with a live four-piece band comprising of keyboards and percussion. To get the audience in the mood the band played a medley of popular show tunes before the quartet appeared on stage followed by applause from the audience - many whom like myself appeared to be existing fans of The Masters of the House quartet. Dressed (as per usual) in black formal wear - the two gents were in black suits and waistcoats with the ladies being in elegant black dresses.

The quartet got the show in full swing with their opening number - the title track from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar. We were then welcomed to the evenings performance of what the four like to call a “celebration of everything wonderful in the world of Musical Theatre”.

At this I had another sense of deja vu - in 2016 I had the same feeling at my second visit to one of their tours - that it all felt too familiar - and second time I saw them the set list was more or less identical to the first time I saw them, with tonight also being the case. Whilst I found this a little disheartening it also brought with it a sense of comfort and familiarity; I’m often mocked by friends for seeing the same shows over and over again (with Les Miserables making it to thirty times in the West End to date, Wicked some eleven or twelve times for example) so I was able to sit back and relax knowing which songs were to come, content that all the biggest show tunes were guaranteed to be performed.

We had delights such as “Wouldn’t It Be Lovely?” from My Fair Lady (Sara), the title track from Phantom of the Opera, All I Ask of You (Phantom of the Opera) by Jayne and John, a medley from the musical inspired by William Shakespeares Romeo & Juliet (West Side Story), Hopelessly Devoted from Grease (Jayne) and even a couple for the audience to get involved with - Rocky Horror's “The Timewarp”, Joseph’s “Any Dream Will Do” plus the encore Mamma Mia medley.

My favourite part of the performance however will always be the wonderful Les Miserables medley - not only is it an important element in the quartets namesake, it is my ultimate favourite musical and the foursome have always recreated the spine-tingling tear-shedding emotions of the live musical perfectly. Sara has such a hypnotic and soothing voice, but she can really hit the high notes when required - as proven in the closing song of Act One - the belter of a song “Defying Gravity” - the closing song of Act One in the hit musical Wicked. Although Sara may not have had to endure the gruelling transformation with all that green make up to perform the song, the lighting added a lovely green glow to the stage and onto Sara which reflected like rays of light off her sparkly gown.

Speaking of gowns, the two ladies managed to squeeze in a couple of costume changes, each time into elegant flowing dresses of blacks, sequins and sparkles.

Another real highlight of the evening came from another firm favourite show of mine - Miss Saigon. John and Sara blew me away with their duet of “The Last Night of the World”.

As with the previous visits to see the foursome, the quartet added a personal touch at the end by ensuring they’re in the foyer at the end to shake as many hands of audience members as possible, taking the time to thank them for coming. I briefly chatted with Jayne, stating that this was my third visit over the space of a decade and that on my first visit they had CDs to purchase but there’s been none since that, stating that I’d love another album recorded by my fourth visit. Fingers crossed that this is something the four will work on before my next visit. Until then I will just have to be content with the happy memories from their previous shows, re-listening to the one recording they’ve done to date.

If you’re a huge fan of musical theatre then you simply must beg, borrow or steal a ticket to one of their upcoming shows, I must hope that it’s not another three year wait until they return to Wakefield!

Reviewer - Lottie Davis-Browne
on - 9/2/19