Lady Rizo, cabaret review: Mamma mia, here she goes again

Rizo seemed less melancholy and more celebratory than before, says Bruce Dessau, but she remained eccentrically endearing 
Changed by motherhood, sort of: Lady Rizo
Bruce Dessau10 March 2016

Well that was a first. In Multiplied, Lady Rizo is joined for one song by her four-month-old son. Audiences are sworn to secrecy about their unique duet. Needless to say it was a tough act to follow.

Rizo is a rising star in America, but, as she explained, motherhood has changed her hard-partying perspective. Sort of. She is still all eyelashes, powerhouse vocals, wry asides and glamorous frocks, except now she Googles bars to see if children are allowed.

Motherhood has altered her on-stage mood too. She seemed less melancholy, more celebratory. From the opening of It’s Oh So Quiet, made famous by Björk, to the encore of Bowie’s Five Years, there was an air of euphoria. Even Nirvana’s bleak Lithium felt strangely upbeat.

She was as eccentrically endearing as ever between songs though, flirtatiously beckoning one fan over to help with a costume change and inviting everyone to join her inside her “giant womb” as she placed her voluminous skirt over their heads.

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1/10

The performance was a little uneven and the pace never quite settled last night, but this was an early outing in a lengthy run. Not Rizo’s best show, yet there are seeds of something special here.

Until March 26, excluding March 10, Soho Theatre (020 7478 0100, sohotheatre.com)

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