Presented by: Hughman Productions
Reviewed 10 March 2022
For the last few years of Adelaide Fringe, I have heard good things about Hugh Sheridan’s shows. For the 2022 Fringe, Sheridan is presenting a new show, My Way. They certainly did do it their way, but sadly, the show missed the mark through a lot of the performance.
Vocally, Sheridan struggled to reach the top notes in their range, often becoming very thin, wispy and pitchy. It was disappointing that keys had not been adjusted to suit the upper end of their range as Sheridan’s mid range has a very nice warming tone. The banter between songs also often fell flat and were delivered with rather slurred speech. In the middle of the performance there were two numbers presented from the musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, in which Sheridan was scheduled to perform a few years ago, but the show was pulled by the producers. Some of the commentary around these numbers was unnecessary and rather derogatory.
There were two saving graces in this show. The first was Sheridan’s phenomenal band. These fine gentlemen lifted the show with great energy, musicality and unity. The band, featuring all local South Australians, included: Chris Neale on drums, Milush Piochaud on electric and double bass, David Spicer on keys, Luke White on Trumpet, Giovanni Clemente on Saxophone and Thomas Voss on Trombone. These boys were a tight unit and were supported by a great mix from the sound team.
The second saving grace was Sheridan’s co-star, Maiya Sykes. Sykes has bucket-loads of personality and a voice to match. She moved from ballads to RnB to jazz with professional ease and showed great control with her vocal ability, pulling back for tender moments then letting go and riffing away with the best of them. Sykes and the band are worth the ticket price alone.
My Way is certainly targeted to the middle aged women of Adelaide, and the target demographic in the audience seemed to be enjoying the show. It is just unfortunate that the polish from the headline name that people paid to see was missing.
Reviewed by: Ben Stefanoff
Twitter: @theartsislife
Venue: The Moa (open-air) at Gluttony
Season: Until March 20 2022
Duration: 70mins
Tickets: From $49
Bookings: https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/hugh-sheridan-my-way-af2022
Rating out of 5: 3
#Adelaide #ADLFringe #livetheatreadelaide #supportthearts
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