When Jon Robyns, a performer whom I really admire, announced
that he would be appearing as part of the Singular Sensations series, I was
very curious and I decided to grab myself a ticket. As well as appearing in
several of my favourite shows in the past, most recently he was the alternate
for the lead male role in Memphis, a show which I like quite a lot (okay, this
is probably the biggest understatement ever! I’ll have seen the show 11 times
by the time it closes next week!) And I had also meant to go along to several
Singular Sensations concerts in the past, but for one reason or another I never
quite made it.
Running for just over an hour and a half, it made for a
thoroughly entertaining afternoon. Edward Seckerson hosted brilliantly, asking
some interesting questions and sharing some fascinating theatre trivia.
Meanwhile Jon Robyns was captivating. He shared some brilliant stories (and
some very impressive namedrops!) and performed a great variety of songs
throughout the course of the afternoon. At the very beginning it was a treat to
hear Jon sing, accompanied by one of his Avenue Q puppet counterparts,
Princeton. Later we heard some familiar songs such as ‘Moving Too Fast’ from
The Last 5 Years (one of my all-time favourite musicals! For that reason this
was probably my favourite song of the afternoon) which were interwoven with
some songs which I was less familiar with (i.e. ‘Ink’ from Dessa Rose). He also
performed ‘Left Behind’ from Spring Awakening, which features on his album.
Incidentally I had intended to buy a physical copy of the album of the day, but they had all sold out, so I’ll have to make do with my digital version for now…definitely
worth checking out in my opinion though.
Along with the songs and anecdotes, Jon also shared a lot of
invaluable advice for young and aspiring performers, which I found genuinely
helpful and motivating (I now know where to look during a singing audition,
something I’d always wondered about but, at this point in my life, felt too
foolish to ask!).
So all in all, I had an absolutely fabulous afternoon. A
while back Mark Shenton wrote an article for The Stage about current West End
leading men, and it comes as no surprise that Jon Robyns’ name appeared on the
list. As well as having a fantastic voice, he also has a genuinely warm and
congenial persona. I’m so glad I attended his show and am looking forward to
seeing him in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang over the Christmas period.
I’m sure I’ll also be returning to the charmingly cosy
Charing Cross Theatre again soon, to catch another Singular Sensations show. I
really enjoyed myself and for that reason I really recommend checking out this
season’s other guests too, because I’d say that an afternoon like this is a
must-see for any musical theatre fan!