Natalie Douglas review, The Crazy Coqs

This is a theatre blog but every now and then a music show gets a mention because of its theatricality. So it is with Natalie Douglas singing Dolly Parton at the delicious Crazy Coqs bar in London's Piccadilly. Douglas is as big and dark as Parton is fair and tiny and was not long out of nappies when Dolly first performed Joelene and I Will Always Love You in the early 1970s, but she gives Parton's classics her all, and that's rather a lot. You won't be bored.

As well as covering Dolly's best loved songs, Douglas presents covers of Dolly's covers... So we have a superb Stairway to Heaven and Neil Young's After the Goldrush. The hallmark of good cabaret is a good spiel, and Douglas charms with stories of her crush on the country superstar, and the musical leylines that led her to conceive the show. Her Musical Director, Mark Hartman, is superb on piano and vocals and her unobtrusive female guitarist provides beautiful harmonies.

I didn't know about Natalie Douglas until the music critic Clive Davis recommended her cabaret, and found her funny and disarming. She has a fabulous laugh and great timing when talking as well as singing.  With a much stronger voice than Parton, and with sweeter notes that are more breathy than plaintive, she doesn't emulate the legend so much as underscore Parton's quirks while showcasing her own breadth and versatility.

In conclusion: Dolly fans will very much enjoy this 90 minute cabaret in a 1930s bar.  The repertoire includes Coat of Many Colours, Down From Dover, and Here You Come Again. I wiped away tears when the set closed with Dolly's best weepies.


Natalie Douglas, Tickets

The Crazy Coqs, Brasserie Zedel, 20 Sherwood Street, London W1F 7ED.  Run ends  8 November