PROVOKES LAUGHTER, STILLNESS, APPLAUSE AND CHEERS

Reviewed by Jo Hodgson, 2 Mar 2015

Those who are approaching the retiring age are faced with many a question. Not only, “Do I want to retire?” but, more pertinent, “Can I afford to retire?”

In Yep, Still Got It, Jane Keller is faced with this modern dilemma.

She discovers the thing to do is to consult with a life coach, figure out ones personal statement, fit a career around what you like to do and there you have it…. Or maybe not.

After a few dubious job trials, she finally finds her ‘encore career’ as a ‘career coach’ herself.

Jane Keller is a wonderful storyteller-singer, sharing her encounters with the low self-esteemed, the obsessed, the overweight, the worn out, the shy, the menopausal, the delusional, the under or over sexed, and the lonely, with wit, frank humour, and poignant moments.

The linking dialogue bubbles along effortlessly as she – Jane, the life coach – introduces the audience to her ‘clients’ and sings an eclectic collection of songs portraying them through both her physicality and her character-filled voice.

The staging is uncomplicated with draped red curtains framing the backdrop. The few chairs and the on-stage piano (adroitly played by Michael Nicholas Williams) are put to good use during the life coaching sessions; the lighting design by Deb McGuire is nicely unobtrusive and all that is needed because everything is told through the dialogue and the fabulous song lyrics – all of which are delivered with expert clarity of diction.

With a superb team of collaborators – Michael Nicholas Williams (pianist /composer /arranger), Alan Palmer (director) and Sandy Brewer (co writer) –Yep, Still Got It has something for everyone as the appreciative audience shows through their snorts of laughter, mesmerised stillness and huge applause and cheers.

Jane has a talent for finding lesser known repertoire and many of the songs which are full stories in themselves have us in fits at the comical delivery and the brilliant lyrics.

However within the laughter I hear a real sadness in the characters and just when I’m wondering if we are starting to laugh at the expense of others misfortune, Jane dials it right back and performs the most beautiful medley of heartfelt pieces including ‘If I have to live alone’ by Stephen Schwartz and ‘Out of Practise’ by Dillie Keane.

This brings the whole evening around to the very real fact that Yep, Jane Keller still has it and there is a lot more of her own ‘encore career’ to come I’m sure.