Bringing Him Home With His West End Story. Cabaret Festival. Festival Theatre. 13 Jun 2015
Daniel Koek is a Gawler lad who made it big on the West End. In homage to an inspirational performance of The Phantom of the Opera his Mum took him to when he was a young'un, he opened his show with a medley of tunes from this beloved musical. Koek is very proud of how far he has come - manifested by his Hugh Grant accent - and he repeatedly used words like ‘grit’, ‘determination’, and ‘hard work’ to signal it's not all beer and skittles. A salient lesson for any wannabes out there in the crowd.
The audience's troubles melted away after a few bars from Phantom. Koek is an extraordinarily powerful vocalist, and he showcased his amazing range by reprising songs from his lead roles in smash musicals in biographical order (he seemed to have nothing but lead roles): West Side Story, Chess, South Pacific and the icing on the cake, his Jean Valjean in a recent West End production of Les Misérables.
Now a word from his sponsor. Koek is Cultural Ambassador for Qantas and he played one of those naff videos of himself effortlessly checking in at an empty Heathrow and on to the first glass of champers in business class. Has it come to this? What a wank. He further plugged a UK cancer fund and his two albums. I was hoping for a plug for whoever made his suit, because it was terrific.
The second part of the show featured a few numbers from the new album, HiGH, and a couple of songs with Adelaide's Michaela Burger. There were some happy snaps in the background of the good old school days. A nice tie-in, as they were fellow students in London and she is also in a Cabaret Festival show - sold out, but. His long-time musical director, Greg Arrowsmith, did the seamless arrangements and brought together fine musicians.
Daniel Koek has made it big and he came back to tell us. He certainly emphasised it doesn't happen overnight, it's work, and at times, an out-of-control journey. He subliminally indicated that if you want to be really busy in show business, it helps to dance and play an instrument as well as you can sing. But boy, can he sing!
David Grybowski
When: 13 to 14 June
Where: Festival Theatre Stage
Bookings: Closed
