Review: TITUSS BURGESS - THE INDECISIVE WARRIOR, Phoenix Arts Club
There are certain voices that are just… different; inimitable instruments that transcend what most of us believe, or even comprehend what a voice can do. Enter Tituss Burgess, TV star and Broadway veteran, who has the voice of a generation, so as you can imagine, when we heard they were coming over the UK for an intimate residency at the wickedly fun Phoenix Arts Club in London’s West End, we snapped up a ticket in an instant.
Where you would know Tituss from could vary; it could be from the TV show Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt or it could be from one of a number of cast albums, including the voice of Sebastian in the Original Broadway Cast recording of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, taking the song ‘Under the Sea’ higher than you ever conceived possible. For this reviewer in particular, it was on YouTube over a decade ago, listening to them singing covers of songs written for female identifying characters and in the same key, which was just mind blowing. If you haven’t seen them before, you MUST listen to their cover of ‘Stay With Me’ from Into the Woods and more staggeringly, their cover of ‘And I Am Telling You’ from Dreamgirls….. Ok yes, we are big fans, if that wasn’t now abundantly clear, and have been so for many years, so what was it like seeing someone we adore so much up close and personal?
The show is a total whirlwind, but an incredibly enjoyable one. It was not what we were expecting from the show, perhaps we expected a fairly standard dynamic whereby the performer regales you with stories about their life and in between, sings songs that made them famous, but that wasn’t the case with The Indecisive Warrior. Tituss didn’t come to talk, they came to SING, and wow did they?! Vocals flow through them with the grace and effortlessness of a light breeze flowing over a river, an awe inspiring thing to witness. The set list is surprisingly obscure, and a lot of the songs we hadn’t heard of personally, but there were a few well known songs in there, such as a reimagined ‘Please Don’t Stop the Music’ and a big old Disney nod to the fans at the end. Our favourite performance of the night is their rendition of ‘King of the World’ from Songs for a New World, which was acted with deep connection and soaring vocals. There was also a beautiful moment in the show when three performers from SIX were asked to give an impromptu performance of ‘Summertime’ It’s also worth mentioning, headed by Dan Garmon, the show features some of the most insane musicians you will ever see.
As an audience, we were certainly left wanting more, and would have loved more stage time from Tituss, perhaps there’s room for another few numbers to be added to the show now that it’s opened, as the show was slightly shorted than we had expected. We were lucky enough to be there for the opening night when the show was still finding itself with sound balance and flow, but we have no doubt it will get smoother and smoother over its two weeks, so we highly recommend getting yourself down to the Phoenix Arts Club to see it.
What makes this show special is the fact that Tituss makes the show COMPLETELY authentic and communicates with the audience through the music and song choices. The show is raw and visceral and comes from the soul, we just wish we could see it again!
Galactically big vocals in a gorgeous intimate setting.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: James Edge