06 Aug 2025
Deborah Heath checks out the disco divas bringing the seventies back to St Albans Roman Theatre…
The life of a local theatre reviewer is pretty bonkers during Roman Theatre Festival season and I haven’t been able to see all the music events I would have liked to.
However, I was delighted to be invited to see The Sundaes perform a disco-inspired night celebrating female greats. The evening wove together their unique blend of three-part harmony and comedy skills.
Local theatre goers were happy to see OVO regular Anna MacLeod Franklin as Strawberry Sundae, alongside the equally talented Chocolate (Keris Lea) and Vanilla Sundae (Kimberley Ensor). If they had been performing on a Sunday rather than a Wednesday it would have been even better, but ice cream is a dish to be enjoyed any day of the week, so let’s explore what made this evening so sweetly satisfying.
The show included a variety of medleys from Divas including The Supremes, Cher and Tina Turner. Each of the Sundaes had their solo and backing-singing moments but I particularly enjoyed their three-part harmonising accompanied by some well-choreographed movement.
They describe themselves as a “powerhouse vocal girl group” and they aren’t wrong. One highlight was Chocolate Sundae’s Shirley Bassey set which she sang with tremendous vocal control whilst interacting with a white stuffed cat which appeared from underneath her coat of giant sequins.
Of course, every good ice cream sundae includes tasty layers and the songs were alternated with comedy banter which was always sweet and sometimes downright saucy:
“Vanilla goes with everything!”
The Sundaes’ natural flair for comedy and audience interaction came in extremely handy when they ran into sound difficulties. Chocolate Sundae in particular, kept the mood light and got us all on side with on point quips such as “I will survive” and “We only paid for one mic”.
It was so lovely to see these three singers helping each other out by sharing radio mics; they were so clearly a strong team.
The problem turned out to be a radio channel issue and I would like to give a shout out to “Mike the Mic” for working so hard to fix this during the evening. Although the problem was never fully resolved, The Sundaes were consummate professionals throughout and nothing stood in the way of them working their socks off to give us a fabulously fun night in spite of the adversity.
Talking of socks, there wasn’t a pair in sight for their costumes were the ultimate in glamour and sparkle making our toothsome trio look good enough to eat.
I have never seen boas on this scale before and I felt rather jealous of their glittery dresses and wraps.
It wasn’t just that they all looked gorgeous, which they did, it was how they used and moved in their costumes that elevated the show. There was grace, poise and comedy in the way they swished their glitz around.
The Sundaes are smashing singers but you get more depth of flavour than this alone. This is a complete dessert – it looks delicious, has a variety of song flavours and textures with some fruity humour sprinkled on top.
Let me assure you that a night with The Sundaes will keep you on a sugar high for days.
