Review | Christina Bianco ‘O Come, All Ye Divas’
By Josh Lee
It’s the Christmas gift that keeps on giving as impressionist extraordinaire Christina Bianco does everyone from Barbra Streisand and Bette Midler to Celine Dion and Cher, with a sprinkling of Kate Bush, Keira Knightley and even Lorraine Kelly thrown in for fun. It’s not the first time this year that the American YouTube sensation has graced these shores (she toured the country with her Me, Myself And Everyone Else show) but this diva ain’t resting on her laurels: the Yuletide theme gives her schtick a fresh new angle, and Kate, Lorraine and a spot-on Miley Cyrus are among a few newbies to her repertoire.
Bianco has set up shop in the Charing Cross Theatre until 7 January, with a camp-tastic show that’s the perfect party-starter before a visit to Heaven opposite. A petite ornament in front of a huge Christmas tree, backed by a small band of rather nice boys, she does some of her greatest hits – including Let It Go in so many different voices it makes your head spin, and excerpts from Barbra’s bonkers My Passion For Design book, read incongruously by Knightley, Drew Barrymore and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini/Cole/Tweedy – as well as new bits and her own twist on festive classics.
Throwing crackers, containing song titles and singers’ names, into the audience, getting recipients to shout out one of each, then putting them together is a fun touch that on the night we were there resulted in such hilarious clashes as Edith Piaf doing Blue Christmas. Obviously Christina has only included the names of divas who are within her range but it’s a pretty incredible range.
She overreaches herself a bit, doing TV skits and mash-ups and flitting from one singer to another when there are times you wish she’d just do a whole song as Bernadette Peters or Kristen Chenoweth. But she does some complete songs (such as the sneeringly funny Short People) as herself, proving to be just as big a belter as all the women she impersonates.
Rating: 4/5
O Come, All Ye Divas is at the Charing Cross Theatre, London, until 7 January. For more information and tickets, visit charingcrosstheatre.co.uk. And for more of the best deals on tickets and shows, visit tickets.attitude.co.uk.
Words by – Simon Button