JADAR

★★★★★

Dear Carrie Hope Fletcher, thank you for an incredible experience at the Lowry. What a night of West End wonders and motivational music! – Katie
It is surprisingly rare to see solo tours from musical theatre performers. While artists like Lea Salonga continue to garner success from their tours, surprisingly few big West End and Broadway stars seem to be able to tour their own musical concerts.

Carrie is of course an exception to this rule. With an incredible 611k followers on Instagram and 628k subscribers on YouTube, Carrie continues to reach audiences on and off the stage. With roles like Eponine and Fantine (Les Misérables), ALW’s Cinderella, and Veronica Sawyer (Heathers) under her belt, and two Grammy nominations, her stardom is undeniable.

Despite this, Carrie consistently thanked her fans throughout the show for making her dreams possible (a little modest to her own talents and determination, I might add).

Whether you’re a fairly new fan, like myself, or have grown up watching her musical journey, her performance in her new UK tour, Love Letters, does not disappoint, with its intimate, close-knit feel, her warm-hearted commentary, and the interactive nature of the show.

Indeed, her show consists of several letters of various names voted on by her social media followers, who effectively get to compose their own unique show in each leg of the tour, our date being the first to include “Dear Santa”, telling the tale of a child questioning Santa’s existence, and linking it to her role in her brother’s book/show Christmasaurus.

As such, each date also mixes up the order of the music, Salford’s starting poignantly with a nod to her West End debut in “Dear Eponine”, which splices segments of musical women Carrie thought “Eponine would get along with”, including a rather sassy ‘I Won’t Say (I’m in Love)’ from Hercules.

Matching the literary theme, the set consists of a wonderful library backdrop, covered in easter-eggs and musical references, be it the French flag or Cinderella’s glass slipper, all surrounded by a Harry Potter-esque flurry of letters and a central notice board filled with tonight’s letters/songs as prompts.

Stacks of books, a writing desk and little interactive lights are dotted around the stage while the band play in the corner and Carrie moves effortlessly across the stage performing each mesmerising number after sweet (although a tad scripted) allegories and thoughts from each letter.

Despite some of these moments obviously being scripted, none of the magic was lost, in fact it felt as though she was playing a new character – a rehearsed but honest and vulnerable look into her own “inner monologue”. She’s still acting but as herself, with a play-within-a-play feeling as we get an insight into her mind through music and self-reflection.

Unlike her first tour, this show follows a more traditional musical structure, with two acts separated by an interval and a live band accompanying her, and also playing little antics with new music every night as her “stairs music”, Salford’s treat being a rendition of ‘YMCA’ that had Carrie cracking up and dancing.

Moments like this really showcased her charming and bubbly personality, that contagious laughter, them relatable sentiments, her crazy childhood stories and sibling cheekiness, and her cheery disposition are all so captivating and real.

Her interactions with the band, her thankfulness to the audience, and her chemistry when sat, pillow, blanket and all (like at a slumber party!) on the sofa with Salford’s guest star (and her ex-band mate) Ben Forster, exuded such warmth and endearment.

Speaking of Forster, his duet numbers with Carrie were incredible, especially their renditions of ‘Shallow’ (A Star Is Born) with that gorgeously deep Broadway tone paired with Carrie’s own enchanting vocals and a pinch of Lady Gaga evocation… simply wonderful.

Rather than playing any role, her tour shows a unique aspect of her own life, whether it be
her childhood, her career, her family, her experiences as a new mother, or her relationship with her own self-esteem and social media.

Through the carefully curated letters, she unveils little pieces of her life, telling stories about her childhood like her “Runaway Cheeky” game and learning to take that fearlessness into her adulthood. She shares heart-warming stories about her appreciation for her mother and in turn the difficulties and wonders she
experiences as a new mother herself and singing tunes related to these sentiments and stories of advice to her younger self, her daughter, and to us.

Keep your loved one’s close, put away the phones, and be brave or at least worry less about things.

Perhaps sprinkling a few more of the West End’s bigger or more popular songs would have been a nice touch (I’d love to hear her takes on some of theatre’s biggest hits).

Despite this, everything she sang (whether you knew it or not) was performed flawlessly, and there was a nice variety of music, with a few old classics, a few modern, some previously covered in her album When the Curtain Falls, and a sprinkle of Disney with the aorementioned ‘I Won’t Say I’m in Love’ and ‘When You’re the Best of Friends’ (The Fox and The Hound), and a wide variety of musical stylings, whether heartfelt ballads, or old jazzy sounding hits like ‘Just Keep Moving the Line’.

The variety of sounds, styles, and soft accents added to each number were so impressive that it sometimes sounded like separate singers were performing each number because of her range and versatility.

Her performances were so powerful, evocative, emotional, raw and simply enchanting. I found myself gazing in wonder, shaking my head in disbelief (some of those notes are unbelievable yet so effortlessly performed!) and even getting goosebumps at the sheer talent on stage before me.

She’s charming, funny, talented, and relatable, all at the same time. My first time at a musical theatre performer’s concert, and one of the most intimate and yet emotive and stripped-back concert experiences I’ve ever seen. There’s no need for pyrotechnics and glitter when you have charisma and talent.

Carrie Hope Fletcher tours the UK with Love Letters until October 14.

Photo: Katie Bray @ JaDar