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Somewhere that's green: Potty the Plant at Wiltons Music Hall

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"I'm Potty the Plant," sings a potted plant in this odd little fringe concept of a show. It's hard not to get the tune out of your head, even if the show is brief. It's an earworm for a show that features a worm-like plant as a puppet. And given the show's brevity, running at only an hour, it's hard to get too annoyed by a lack of a coherent story, even if it still seems like the show could use a bit more development (which is underway). It has made its London debut at Wilton's Music Hall. The premise is that Potty, the plant, lives in the hospital office of Dr Acula (geddit?) and dreams of a life with the cleaning lady Miss Lacey (Lucy Appleton). But Dr Acula might be responsible for why all these children are disappearing while trying to romance Miss Lacey for her family's money that she doesn't have. Three nurses are on the case, trying to solve the mystery.  If the show settled on a convincing plot, location and set of characters, it could ...

Singing out: Alexandra Da Silva @pizzapheasantry


Alexandra Da Silva returned last week with her show La Petite Divatante at the Pheasantry in Chelsea.

For a little lady she has a big voice and the show is an opportunity to show off her musicality. And make a little fun of her height. She sings Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid with new lyrics by Christina Bianco about being too short to enjoy the sun.

But it is her reflective ballads linger with you. Her vocal, which at times has a country feel, gives these pieces extra emotional pull.


Particularly poignant was her performance of the song about 9/11, I'll be here (from Ordinary Days). Her interpretation of the lyrics and tender delivery underscored the emotion of the piece.

There is added excitement when joining her she is joined onstage by Caroline Gregory and they sing the duet from Sideshow I Will Never Leave You.

These moments work well and contrast with the bigger, brassier and showstopping numbers that fill the rest of the list.

It is refreshing to have a song list in cabaret that draws from so many recent Broadway shows. She deftly handles the comic possibilities arising from singing Killer Instinct (from the musical Bring It On) and Screw Loose (Cry Baby).

Reprising her comic turn from the Kander and Ebb revue The World Goes Round she also performs Ring Them Bells and Cabaret. They are so enjoyable it is hard to resist them becoming a singalong...

Her bubbly personality and infectious enthusiasm makes the evening a delight. If there is anything missing it would be a dialogue with the audience explaining why these songs mean so much to her. But with music director Joe Louis Robinson and Phil Donnelly on guitar, things are kept at a brisk pace. So there isn't much time to dwell on this.

Alexandra Da Silva does not yet have a long list of credits to her name, but her comic and dramatic potential makes her someone to watch. Hopefully we will get the opportunity to see her on the stage again soon.

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