Peter Straker's Brel

Peter Straker's credentials are nothing to be sniffed at. A musical theatre veteran who formed part of the original 1968 cast of Hair, he went on to star in the likes of The Rocky Horror Show, The Rat Pack and Pete Townsend's Tommy. But sadly that's no assurance of quality when it comes to Brel. Not quite the heartfelt tribute it appears to be, Straker's production is an arms-length treatment of Jaques Brel's life and works that sits awkwardly between musical tribute and self-indulgent musical theatre.

Jaques Brel was certainly theatrical, but Straker's thespian bent is so overblown that it makes him feel like the butt of the joke at a karaoke: jumping around the stage, staring menacingly into the eyes of audience members, and making seemingly unnecessary costume changes at the side of the stage. Even Straker's powerful, full-bodied voice succumbs to over-theatrical temptations – that warm, aged croon bubbling over into a dramatic yelp on almost every song. The talented three-piece band try their best to augment the songs, but the soulless sound of the keyboard and the wiry, nasal tones of the guitar can only muster a shadow of the rich, sophisticated arrangements of Brel's originals.

Peter Straker's Brel could have been a worthy tribute to the Belgian master of the chanson, but Straker's insistence on over-gesticulating and magnifying every musical subtlety to the level of caricature made him feel like a fish out of water. Straker might have a great voice, yet you feel he's not quite as at home here as he is upon the creaky boards of West-End theatres.