Review: THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL: A TRIBUTE TO WHITNEY HOUSTON at Reynolds Performance Hall

All the way from South Africa, Belinda Davids and her amazing entourage brought the spirit of Whitney Houston to Reynolds Performance Hall Thursday, January 25, to an audience ready to celebrate “The Voice,” as dubbed by Clive Davis. THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL: A TRIBUTE TO Whitney Houston covered a sampling of Houston’s career that included 11 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as 23 total top 10 tracks, and four No. 1 albums, all before her untimely death in 2012. And though we would have loved to have seen the original, I am certain Houston would give her approval of the astounding ability Davids’ possesses in bringing her memory to life, rekindling the emotional depths of her soulfulness into our hearts once again.  

Before Davids took her place on stage, music from the phenomenal band filled the auditorium with a familiar ballad that most of the audience members immediately recognized. As the melodious horns beckoned the songstress, lights came up and shown on our beautiful starlet who was wearing a dazzling white evening gown slit up her left thigh. Davids was breathtaking, and then when she oozed her first notes, she pulled you into her world and created magic that captivated and held us through the duration of the show. Even now, I am telling my friends that they missed an amazing show. I was blown away! 

Davids’ and her crew began with Run to You and Didn’t We Almost Have It All before they picked up the tempo for If I Told You That. Then the keyboardist (Ofentse Moshwetsi) brought out his flute to intro the "Prince of Egypt" hit When You Believe. She followed that with Where do Broken Hearts Go and finished the first set with It’s not Right, But it's Ok. At this point I’m thinking that I don’t remember Houston having so many ballads, but then again it makes sense. She did have that vocal styling that was able to draw out those long phrases that necessitated the music to take its time.  

Once she left the stage, the backup singers (Yahto Kraft & Zamagambu Memela) took control alongside the shredding guitarist (James Childs), who entertained us long enough for Davids to reappear in a red jacket and pants with a black top to contrast the fabulous outfit and sung I’m Your Baby Tonight. Then, multitalented Moshwetsi set the mood with the sultry saxophone for a grooveable rendition of You Give Good Love. After we danced to How Will I Know and swayed to Greatest Love of All, it was time for intermission. 

After the break, Davids emerged in a purple and black sparkly ensemble to rock out to Queen of the Night and I’m Every Woman. A few more ballads followed with My Love Is Your Love and One Moment in Time, before we were back to dancing with Million Dollar Bill. She then disappeared briefly. 

When the sax solo was finished, Davids appeared in a stunning teal dress and crooned a powerful rendition of I Will Always Love You. Then it was time for the band intros, most hailing from South Africa. After that, she passed through the audience while singing Saving All My Love for You. This was our time to sing as well, but I am certain we were not up to her standards according to the look and sassy way she disappeared off stage. I laughed so hard I had tears!  

Sexy sax man had another solo along with an awesome display from the keytar player before she returned in glistening black suit that matched her backup singers. We boogied on with I Get So Emotional and Dance With Somebody before she took her exit to wow us with her red dress during her encore to finish with I Have Nothing. 

I cannot express enough how much fun this whole show was. Davids is a star, and she is backed by an extraordinary group of performers. Let me share my knowledge of the little research that I did on each performer: 

•  James Childs is a performing musician who was signed with BMG in 1997. 
• Mfundo Mbuli (Mus Scales) is an award-winning producer and has released his own EP. 
• Thembelihle Ndimande is a seasoned performer with tribute shows. 
• Travis Johnston is a full-time musician and drum tutor at Melray Music in Bedfordview. 
• Ofentse Moshwetsi won the Paul Bothner Jazz Prize at the University of Cape Town. 
• Yahto Kraft was a featured contestant on Season 3 of The Voice South Africa and has a debut single entitled “Ugly.” 
• Zamagambu Memela (XAE) was on Season 14 of Idols South Africa and finished in 7th place.  

GREATEST LOVE OF ALL will be at Corsicana Palace Theatre in Texas Thursday Feb. 1 and The Strand Theatre in Shreveport, Louisiana, on the 2nd. To find out more, visit their website at https://thegreatestloveofallshow.com. 

Next up at Reynolds Performance Hall is a showing of the original Batman with the soundtrack performed by the Conway Symphony Orchestra this Saturday, Feb. 3. For more information on tickets, visit uca.edu/reynolds. 

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