Cassidy Janson (Westway Sessions) | Vaudeville Theatre

Cassidy Janson opened her concert at the Vaudeville Theatre on Monday night by warning the audience that she had a sinus infection and was high on Sudafed. “But don’t worry,” she chirped. “It’s legal. I got it from Sainsbury’s!”

She also warned that she would probably say something inappropriate and hit herself in the face with the mic, as well as serenading us with a series of hits from her illustrious career in musicals, some songs from her album, and plenty of Carole King. 

All of this she delivered on, with the exception of hitting herself in the face with the mic, but she did make an inappropriate joke after struggling to attach the mic to the stand, so she remained thoroughly on brand and thoroughly hilarious.

This may not seem like the introduction to a five-star review, but the human touch, with silly asides, anecdotes from on and off-stage and numerous attempts to get the audience to join in a chant of “Sudafed! Sudafed!” only added to the stunning vocals on display in her performances. 

Her setlist covered highlights from her career, including a rare outing of ‘I’m Not That Girl’ fromWicked, a roof-raising performance of ‘Nobody’s Side’ from Chess and, as promised, a number of Carole King hits.

Cassidy is perhaps most famous for playing Carole King in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and her renditions of hits including ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow’, ‘It’s Too Late’, ‘You’ve Got A Friend’ (alongside the James Taylor number ‘Fire and Rain’ which it was written in response to), and ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’ showcased both her talent and her profound love of the singer and her material.

In fact, Cassidy’s love and gratitude for her career, the opportunities she has been given, and her fans, was evident throughout the evening, and her joyous attitude was infectious. So I think it’s safe to say that after that performance, Cassidy, we will still love you tomorrow!

Cassidy Janson performed at the Vaudeville Theatre on 7th April as part of the Westway Sessions series, presented by Westway Music. There are two concerts remaining in the series, Kerry Ellis on 21st April and Aimie Atkinson on 23rd June. For more information and tickets, follow the link here.

★★★★★ (5*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review