Kelli O'Hara at Cadogan Hall

On Sunday evening I had the pleasure of seeing Kelli O'Hara in what I think was her second solo show in London, the first being that afternoon, also in Cadogan Hall. Kelli has been a big name on Broadway for a long time now but only came to London in 2018 to reprise her role as Anna in 'The King & I' at the London Palladium. I first came across Kelli in 2010 when I saw the hit revival of 'South Pacific' at Lincoln Centre in New York - Kelli had left the cast when I saw it but it was her voice on the cast recording that I bought immediately after seeing the show. I obviously saw her in 'The King & I'.

She has a soprano voice and originally trained in opera. She told us she had a degree in opera and then moved to New York to train in acting and musical theatre and it's lucky for us that she did. She's been in loads of shows on Broadway over the years and I didn't realise that she originated the role of Francesca in 'Bridges of Madison County', a show I saw over the summer with Jenna Russell in the role of Francesca.

Kelli was surrounded by a five-piece band on Sunday to provide a rich sound. She sang songs from her big hit shows and from her solo records. We were treated to 'Getting To Know You' ('The King & I'), 'Wonderful Guy' (South Pacific) and 'To Build A Home' ('Bridges of Madison County'). She told us about deciding to sing songs usually sung by men and gave us a lovely version of 'Finishing The Hat' from Sondheim's 'Sunday in the Park with George' (as well as other Sondheim songs). She also gave us a touching version of 'This Nearly Was Mine' sung by Emile in 'South Pacific' about losing Nellie, the character played by Kelli.

At one point we got to see her in true operatic mode when she sang a fun song about being a country singer not being able to break into an opera career until the end when she starts singing up and up and up and then soaring into her upper voice - we've all probably seen that on TV or on DVD but to see it in person in front of you ... wow! Her voice went higher and higher and it was both impressive and exciting to witness.

The inevitable standing ovations happened and she came back twice to calm us down, finishing with 'La Vie en Rose' in French and the audience was all clap clap clap. I was too. It was great to see her sing all those songs with her incredibly versatile voice. If you get the chance then make sure you see Kelli sing when you can. I will!