Candy Man – Her Majesty’s Theatre

18 September 2007 – 6:30pm

Well tonight I had the pleasure of seeing Candy Man at her Majesty’s Theatre in Adelaide.

Candy Man is a story based on the life of Sammy Davis Jnr, it is told by Wayne Scott Kermond in the form of song and dance.

At the beginning of the show Wayne clearly points out that he is not impersonating Sammy Davis Jnr (for obvious reasons) he is simply celebrating his life, and telling the story.

As Wayne performed Sammy Davis Jnr’s songs, I was glad that he did not try to mimic Sammy;s unique voice. He performed each piece with his own interpretation and with feeling and much emotion. You could clearly see that Wayne idolised Sammy Davis Jnr and to be honest I think that Sammy would be moved and honoured at the performance given.

The first song performed was of course ‘Candy Man’ which is probably Sammy Davis Jnr’s biggest international hit. It was then followed by ‘Make-em Laugh’ where Wayne provided his own stand up humour by doing impersonations of celebrities such as ‘Humphrey Bogart’, ‘Sylvester Stallone’, ‘Jerry Lewis’ and ‘Michael Jackson’ – all were very well done and humorous.

The first half continued with songs such as ‘Rock a Bye’, ‘Bye Bye Blackbird’ and ended with a ‘Sing Sing Sing’ where probably my highlight of the night was that the audience was treated to a wonderful tap dance routine performed by Wayne and his back up dancers who were ‘Veronica Beattie’, ‘Simon Lind’, ‘Tracie Morley’, ‘Troy Phillips’ and ‘Kelly Power’. This routine was wonderfully done and would give ‘Tap Dogs’ a good run for their money.

The second half was a little more serious, reflecting on some of the racial issues that Sammy Davis Jnr faced as well as the break down of his marriage. However the song and dance by the performers was brilliant and kept the audience wanting more.

Wayne Scott Kermond and his team of performers portrayed a wonderful compliment to Sammy Davis Jnr and his life achievements, and Candy Man was a wonderful performance to be enjoyed by all – young and old and for those who have no prior knowledge of Sammy Davis Jnr or his music.

A well deserved standing ovation was given by the audience to the cast and crew at the end of the performance.