Tricity Vogue: The Blue Lady Sings Back

The Blue Lady Sings Back does exactly what it says on the tin. Tricity Vogue, painted blue, sings through the confines of a framed portrait while an art gallery attendant tries in vain to prevent her musical misadventures. Amid an impressive array of glitzy costumes—a different look to match each song—Vogue coyly flirts with the crowd, peeping out behind huge fake eyelashes and getting up to all sorts of bluesy hijinks behind the back of the wonderfully deadpan attendant.

Her attempts at audience interaction—bringing up audience members and instructing them with blinks and nods to participate while she croons about a broken heart—are a little hit and miss but add a nice dimension to a fairly bonkers show. And the props deserve a mention: from a giant moon to the canny use of a fully functional dining table, they keep each fresh song engaging. The problem is that, while Vogue certainly has a decent set of pipes on her, there's just not enough charisma on show. In other hands, the premise could be electrifying, but Vogue doesn't have the raw sexuality and physicality to fully pull it off. Add to that some uninspired choreography, and the result is a set that never really lifts above average.

The songs themselves are diverting but unmemorable, regardless of how many natty costumes she slips into. Or how many cat impressions she includes. The fact that the star of the show is a supporting role given only five minutes of stage time is really rather telling.