The Carpenters Story at the Grove Theatre Dunstable Review

Reviewed by Sharon Mongey

It was my pleasure to attend the Grove Theatre in Dunstable last night (5 April 2018) to see The Carpenters Story.

For those of you that may not know of The Carpenters, they were a brother and sister act from America. Richard played the keyboard and sang vocals, Karen was lead vocals and played the drums. Their worldwide career spanned 14 years during the late 1960s and 1970s until Karen passed away at the early age of 32.

Last night’s performance took us on that iconic journey of Karen and Richard, a simple stage with a backdrop screen that started the show with Eagle Radio, the DJ introducing The Carpenters, Karen appearing on screen and singing ‘We’ve only Just Begun’. Lead singer tonight, Claire Furley, made her entrance and took over the song and the stage, her voice is brilliant, a fantastic likeness to that of Karen Carpenters; we were tapping our toes and swaying from the off, closing your eyes you could easily imagine that you were listening to the real thing.

Phil Aldridge was the narrator, along with Claire they shared their knowledge of The Carpenters and gave us an insight into their story as artists; Phil was also the pianist and artistic director, along with the orchestra they blew me away with their musical talent.

Stand out performer and star of the night had to be Richard Pardy, who was just phenomenal on the saxophone.

We were treated to many of The Carpenters songs ‘Please Mr Postman’, ‘Top of the World’ and ‘Only Yesterday’ but to name a few. In my opinion the musical ability and vocal performances made up for a lack of story, I would have loved to of heard more about The Carpenters journey. This is more of a concert than a traditional theatre show.

As always staff at the Grove were attentive, the toilets were clean, tidy and plentiful. Although tonight we did not have time to get a drink before the show, the queue was too big, we were served quickly in the interval.

If you are a Carpenters fan I would definitely recommend this show for you but be mindful it is a tribute act of their songs, if you go knowing that then you will undoubtedly have a great night.

Rating: 3.5/5

For other shows at the Grove Theatre in Dunstable visit www.grovetheatre.co.uk or call the box office on 01582 602080.

Grove Theatre, Grove Park, Court Drive, Dunstable, LU5 4GP | 01582 602080