BWW Reviews: ADELAIDE FRINGE 2014: COVER VIRGINS Looks At Second Time Winners

Reviewed Friday 14th March 2014

With Cover Virgins, Becky Blake and Debora Krizak have joined forces to present a performance of songs that didn't make it big the first time around, but became hits when later revised and recorded by another artist. These two friends worked together in the 1990s as Diamond and Pearls before Krizak headed to Sydney and the world of musical theatre, finishing a run of Sweet Charity in time for this get together. Blake stayed in Adelaide as the singer with the popular show band, Chunky Custard, and performing her own shows.

It is hardly necessary to tell anybody in Adelaide what sensational voices these two possess, or what marvellous all round entertainers they are. They are also very versatile and can turn their hands to a wide range of musical genres. A show featuring them together is a real bonus, and it was certainly a crowd pleaser.

This show is a broad sweep of musical history, going back as far as Howard Hoagland 'Hoagy' Carmichael, taking a lingering look at the simpler times of the 1960s, and through to more recent numbers, all of which went almost unnoticed or were only moderately successful the first time around, to be discovered in the archives much later and resurrected. With the dust blown off and a new arrangement written, they were revitalised and turned into solid gold.

To emphasize how obscure the first versions were, the two divas ran a short section as a quiz with, some humorously dodgy prizes, and one very good prize donated by their sponsors. After playing each song in this section, the audience were asked to name the song, the person who made it famous, and who sang the earlier version that did not make it. The last part of that quiz, not surprisingly, proved the most difficult.

This was not only a superb performance musically, with the voices of these two great singers, and with Blake providing piano accompaniment and some iPod backing, but there was also a lot of comedy, some planned and some from ad libs, mixed in with the informative dialogue.

Some great arrangements, two distinctive voices that also blend wonderfully, a collection of great songs, and plenty of laughs, all in the comfort of the intimate La Bohème wine and cocktail bar, Adelaide's cabaret hub, adds up to a terrific night out.

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