Sydney Reviews

Starring. The word has lost some of its lustre due its common placement. But starring is absolutely the right word, the absolutely correct appellation for Erin Clare in her stellar turn as The Girl in Tell Me on a Sunday.

Erin Clare’s star quality is evident from the opening song, Take That Look Off Your Face, all the way to its reprise finale, exhilaratingly sustained for seventy minutes by virtuoso vocalisation and a captivating stage presence.

With music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Don Black, Tell Me on a Sunday charts the arrival of an English girl in America, seeking success and love, and the highs and lows she encounters on that quest, navigating the elusive and evasive, the elation and despair. 

Don Black’s lyrics range from the cheekily observational Capped Teeth and Caesar Salad to the heartbreak of the title song, each number an impeccable stepping stone in the towering narrative of hope and disappointment, of realisation and resilience. It’s a beguiling range, interspersed with lyrical letters home to Mum, confessional, cathartic, comforting. Erin Clare embraces, embodies and empowers these lyrics, the emotions nuanced, the phrasing fine tuned, the comic timing perfect.

Erin Clare’s coruscating quality shines all the more brightly being part of a constellation of marvellous musicians: Music director Guy Simpson on keyboards leads a fantastic band: Julienne Guerbois on cello, Laura Power on flute and sax, Seb Bartels on guitar, Andy Davies on drums and percussion and Benjamin Campbell on bass. It’s a tight ensemble, each component complimenting the other, creating a seamless musical entity.

Directed by Blazey Best with a blitzing lighting design by Kelsey Lee, producer Michelle Guthrie has mined theatrical gold with this production of Tell Me on a Sunday. See it any day (or night) and it will make your week.