Review: I’m Every Woman - The Chaka Khan Musical (Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre)

Review by Daz Gale

⭐️⭐️

I have always been a great champion (and defender) of jukebox musicals - while they certainly have their critics, I have long admired how they can honour and extend the legacy of artists both living and sadly departed, introducing them to a wider audience and new generations. We’ve had jukebox musicals for artists as diverse as Michael Jackson, The Kinks and Steps, and the latest to join the genre is the living legend that is Chaka Khan. I’m Every Woman has been in development for a while and after a false start earlier this year following the postponement of its London run, it is finally open for review, so it was with much excitement that I headed to the Troubadour Theatre in Wembley Park to finally catch the show for myself, but would I’m Every Woman be full of every element I love in musical theatre, or would it be less a case of Chaka Khan and more Chaka Khan’t?

I’m Every Woman - The Chaka Khan Musical tells the story of Chaka Khan, an artist known as the “Queen of Funk” whose career has been in the spotlight since her beginnings in the 1970s. Now in her 70s herself, she shows no signs of slowing down - it was just last year that I saw her live headlining London Pride, and now she has come on board for this musical retelling of her journey. The show charts her rise to stardom as these bio-musicals so often do, though refreshingly this one also makes no attempt to paint her as a saint, refusing to shy away from the demons that plagued her covering themes such as abuse, addiction, and assault - all with a killer soundtrack, of course.

It must be difficult to write a book that is so befitting of a legendary singer beloved by so many, especially when that singer is still around and directly involved, as I believe Chaka has been throughout this project. I have great admiration for writer Nia T. Hill for her attempt at telling this story, but sadly it fails to land. The writing comes across clumsy and clunky, failing to accurately convey how people naturally talk, often to cringeworthy effect. The heavy-handed way characters are introduced by both their first and last names or relation to each character almost feels as if it has come straight from a book “Musical Theatre for Dummies” with the sense the audience cannot be trusted to put two and two together, and simply realise Whitney and Luther are Whitney Houston and Luther Vandross, without each character making sure to use their full names. A minor criticism, perhaps, but one that is reflective of the greater problems in the writing of I’m Every Woman.

Though this is Chaka Khan’s life story, I’m Every Woman surprisingly doesn’t know what story it wants to tell and how to tell it - perhaps this is to do with Chaka’s assumed involvement, making it tricky for the creatives to have the freedom they need, but it repeatedly comes across as awkward and lacking identity. The show borrows heavily from many other musicals with obvious comparisons to Tina. Though Tina and Chaka may have shared similarities in their stories, it feels as if this musical has studied what has made other shows a success in an attempt to replicate that here, but it has backfired considerably. To paraphrase the title song, this show is more “I’m every musical. They’re all in me”.

It is the overuse of cameo appearances that really diminishes the show, however, suggesting the creative team don’t have faith in Chaka Khan’s story alone and resulting in a series of guest stars to help tell the story. While this is fine and even welcome in many jukebox musicals, it is overdone here. Now this next sentence is a spoiler but among the people we meet along the way are Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis, the aforementioned Luther Vandross and Whitney Houston, Steve Winwood, Stevie Wonder and Prince. Are they all necessary to the plot? Certainly not - Prince and Stevie certainly, but would anything have been lost with the removal of the others? Absolutely not. This is where the shifting tone prominent in I’m Every Woman rears its ugly head, with the show risking turning into a parody of itself through its caricature portrayals of these other legendary artists. Prince’s movement is exaggerated and Miles’ voice proves the source of laughter, but at what cost? If the intent for this show was to be a comedy, it needs to have a word with the more serious themes that lurk throughout. It all comes back to this musical having no idea what it wants to be, making it hard for the audience to know how to respond.

There is often a degree of songs being shoehorned into jukebox musicals, and sadly that really is the case here. What should be an emotional moment following the passing of Prince leads to confused reactions with the inappropriate lyrics of ‘Your Love Is All I Know’ (though it is admittedly a vocal highlight) while the inclusion of the guest stars own hits such as ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ dilutes Chaka’s own legacy and the confidence that is had in her own songbook being enough to sell this musical. The most baffling moment comes near the end when Chaka’s daughter Milini performs a song she has written - that song being Christina Aguilera’s ‘Beautiful’. As far as I am aware, Chaka Khan didn’t give birth to Linda Perry (though appropriately it did leave me asking what's going on) so I struggle to understand why that song was even included, though I am thankful London audiences still get a chance to see a Christina Aguilera song on stage given all the drama going on with Burlesque. The whole thing comes across as very random - a recurring concern I had during the show. I’m Every Woman feels more like a series of disconnected vignettes as opposed to a cohesive life story.

There is a big twist involving one character towards the show’s climax, leading to a very weird sequence that revisits the events from the already overlong show, accompanied by a dissatisfying ‘I’m Every Woman’ (though the proper version is saved for the megamix at the end). The only problem with that? The majority of the audience had figured out what the twist was involving this character long before, thanks to the not so subtle way they had signposted it - if they really wanted this to be a shock and have any sort of impact, this could have been handled in a much less obvious way. The biggest problem I’m Every Woman has, however, is its length. It wasn’t enough that the press night performance started 40 minutes late while we waited for Chaka Khan to take her seat (making the lines about her lateness in the show all the more relatable), the show is far too long in general, coming in at just under three hours. The issue is it really has no business being this long and could easily shave off at least half an hour if it got rid of the unnecessary guest stars and just focused on Chaka Khan as it should have done. An absolutely perplexing creative choice that should have been caught and fixed during the tryout runs prior to this transfer, or certainly in the previews this time around. There is a good show to be found in I’m Every Woman, but this version is not it.

If the vision is hard to be found in the writing, it is further confused by Racky Plews’ direction, continuing the theme of borrowing from other shows with no justification for why. For example, what does the inclusion of live filming add apart from the fact it is the in thing, or certainly was two years ago? At one point I almost expected Alexandra Burke to be seen walking the streets of Wembley before making her grand re-entrance - maybe next time. The show doesn’t come across as seamless as you would hope with awkward pauses and poor pacing letting the production down with the occasional sense of low energy creeping in during some moments. Plews' writing feels at odds with both Hill’s writing and Ebony Clarke’s choreography which, while impressive in itself, doesn’t seem to gel with the other elements, particularly with a jarring and frankly unnecessary contemporary dance sequence. I got the sense the creatives involved in this production had different visions, which led to the jumbled production currently on stage. Elsewhere, the set design feels too basic for what it should be, with substandard visuals lessening the quality of the material, with this press night performance also plagued with sound problems. I would have expected the show to be more bedded in than the performance I saw, adding to the overall disappointment.

Chaka Khan has a fantastic songbook, with more hits and familiar numbers than most audience members would realise, no matter how much of a fan of Chaka’s music they are. It takes what feels like 17 hours into the show to get to ‘I Feel For You’ (I am assured the show isn’t actually that long, despite it feeling like that) but it was certainly worth the wait in a memorable performance featuring more guest stars on stage than Live Aid. ‘Tell Me Something Good’, ‘Ain’t Nobody’, ‘Sweet Thing’ and ‘Like Sugar’ are other highlights, serving to remind the audience how fantastic Chaka’s catalogue really is, even if this show doesn’t always do those numbers justice.

Taking on the role of Chaka Khan is Alexandra Burke in what feels like a fantastic full circle moment as the theatre is the same place The X Factor was filmed when she memorably won a whopping 18 years ago (her duet with Beyoncé remains the greatest X Factor moment of all time). Burke has proven time and time again what an accomplished singer and actress she is, even having history with the song ‘I’m Every Woman’ through her time in The Bodyguard. For some reason, this role doesn’t quite play to her strengths as it should. Though her vocals are never in question, and she repeatedly wows the audience through her singing abilities, there felt like a lack of sincerity in her performance which led to a real disconnect. Though the lines were said as well as expected, I was desperate for a touch more to get the sense she really was Chaka as opposed to Alexandra playing Chaka. That said, her vocals wowed frequently, particularly on ‘Your Love Is All I Know’, a song I was unaware of prior to the show but am now immediately in love with, and of course the showstopping ‘I Feel For You’. I would question why Burke was so blatantly switched out for another actress for a contemporary dance number in Act One. The whole thing came across as rather jarring, with the quick switch method already used to allow Burke a quick change earlier in the act - this should either have been left for Burke to perform herself or cut altogether if not in another example of a failure to understand how best to tell this story on stage.

There is one moment of brilliance to be found in I’m Every Woman, which shows the good ideas were there from the creative team but just needed a bit more honing in. That moment comes from the complete transformation of ‘Ain’t Nobody’, performed as a soul ballad in a standout performance from Miles Anthony Daley as Richard Holland. His smooth vocals shone again on ‘Sweet Thing’, with his return in the second Act as Prince confirming him as one of the standout performers of the show. The other standout was Chrissie Bhima who provides a lot of the comic relief in an exaggerated but captivating turn as “Marie Stevens”. At times, it feels as if Bhima is starring in a completely different show from the rest of her cast members, but that certainly works in her favour, and her performance of ‘Like Sugar’ proves to be another highlight. Elsewhere, Chris Breistein showcases some outstanding vocals as Steve Winwood on ‘Higher Love’ while Ashley Stroud oozes star quality as Taka Boom. With a life, legacy and personality as rich and large as Chaka Khan’s, Chaka should have effortlessly been the biggest star on that stage, stealing scenes and focus from start to finish, so it is rather telling that isn’t the case here. That isn’t to take away from Alexandra Burke’s proven abilities, however - I would say that is purely the fault of the creative team and their consistently confused choices.

There is certainly a good show lurking somewhere in I’m Every Woman - it just isn’t in this current version. The show has been in development for a while, and I even caught a workshop performance of it several years back. I saw the potential then and I still see the potential now, despite a completely different book that has its own challenges. There are moments of brilliance to be found, such as their creative take on ‘Ain’t Nobody’ but these moments are buried under an abundance of perplexing decisions and conflicting visions. The first Act proves more tolerable with several moments that show what I’m Every Woman could be if it takes more time to find its identity and voice, though these moments are less forthcoming in the show’s problematic and occasionally baffling second Act. The frustrating thing is the fixes are easy and obvious, and there was no need for this to be a two-star review if these weaker aspects had been caught in time. For example, had they cut some of the unnecessary padding including some of the inconsequential guest characters, they would have assuredly found themselves on the right path. In its current form, I’m Every Woman is a muddled affair that isn’t befitting of Chaka Khan herself or the jukebox musical genre it longs to be a part of. Sadly, the lyric “Ain’t nobody does it better” isn’t true here, as you will find much better in other theatres all over the country.

I’m Every Woman - The Chaka Khan Musical plays at Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre until 27th September. Tickets from https://allthatdazzles.londontheatredirect.com/musical/im-every-woman-the-chaka-khan-musical-tickets

Photos by Danny Kaan