I'm all for sisters doin' it for themselves but I like to feel they've thought it through properly first.
Unfortunately this tacky show, which celebrates great female singers from the Fifties to the present, gives off a desperate sense of being cobbled-together and under-rehearsed.
It shouldn't have been like this. Not only is the source material - the likes of Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin and Beyoncé - indestructible but creator/director Adrian Grant also thought up Thriller Live, the high-octane Michael Jackson tribute that continues to flourish at the Lyric.
Here, though, we appear to be warming up for panto season early. The four female leads (Zoe Birkett, Sheila Ferguson, late of the Three Degrees, ex-Five Star Denise Pearson and Katy Setterfield), plus female backing singers and male dancers, work their way through a succession of flammable-looking costumes, ripe for a Janet Jackson-style "wardrobe malfunction", and a succession of songs belted out unremittingly at top volume. Each number starts to sound exactly like the last.
There's no narrative through-line, except for an amoebic "subplot" about a young sound technician with dreams of diva superstardom. This lack of storyline works fine for Thriller Live, sustained by its super-abundance of energy, but here we have to make do with lame linking pieces by former X-Factor runner-up Andy Abraham, our awkward-looking host for the evening.
Even a heartfelt plea on behalf of domestic violence charity Refuge is spoilt by oddly-pixellated video projections and a comical lack of synching between sound and image.
Each of the four leads - of whom the lithe Pearson is the most impressive - gets ample solo space; more big group numbers would have been welcome. An up-tempo ensemble take on Dolly Parton's Nine to Five promises much but is all too brief. Limited respect only, ladies.
Until Sept 24 (0844 482 9673, respectladiva.com).
Respect La Diva
Garrick Theatre
Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0HH
