(seen at the performance on 11th November 2025)
Six months after her triumphant London Palladium show, Samantha Barks is off on a tour of UK Cathedrals. By popular demand, she kicks off with a tryout night at the Adelphi Theatre.
To first tick something off the list: the monkey did the pre-show “meet and greet,” shaking hands and chatting easily with this lovely lady whose voice and skill it has admired ever since her television “I’d Do Anything” debut.
That there was a huge queue and time ticking rapidly down phased Ms Barks not a bit. Generous time for every single person, a poster signed and personalised for each, and the one promised photo turned out to be 12 on the monkey phone, documenting the whole encounter.
You would think that was the highlight of the night. In fact, not even close. This preview of her Winter 2025 Cathedral Tour turned out to be one of her best and most intimate concerts ever.
Apparently inspired by the communal feeling she felt at the London Palladium show back in April, where the “fourth wall” was broken and she felt so relaxed she could reveal her second pregnancy ‘spur of the moment’ style, she thought that a tour full of audience suggestions and questions would be the thing.
Performing at Westminster Abbey for the Princess of Wales’s Christmas event made her realise that Cathedrals were perfect spaces to work in, and with many located in places without theatres, she could reach fans in more parts of the country.
The country is in for a treat.
A midnight blue outfit suited the mood of opening number, “Still Hurting” from “The Last 5 Years.” It takes nerve to start on such a downbeat note, and it set the emotional openness of the night to perfection.
With just Archie on keys (a fan of “I’d Do Anything” too, even though he was just 4 – ‘I feel old’ quipped his idol) and Dave on strings, the stripped back accompaniment also suits the whole style, along with the candle filled stage.
Leading into “Journey To The Past” from “Anastasia,” and on to the future, as Samantha answers at comprehensive length her first audience question. Advising a very young person wanting a theatre career to “do it for joy, do it for love,” as she did.
“Dangerous to Dream” from “Frozen” next, a recent glory marked.
Now in her “motherhood era” and seeking something special, Barks delivers the first real smash of a performance with ABBA’s “Slipping Through My Fingers” (“Mamma Mia!”). Her wail over lost time strikes deep.
An audience question draws out that her favourite places are Japan and Disneyland, and that this vegetarian appreciated the vegan Ramen noodles found in Tokyo.
More Disney with “Part of Your World” (“The Little Mermaid”), sweet and strong.
Her father’s favourite follows. A nod to the Cathedral setting, Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” landed in heaven.
Special guests “Collabro” gave her a little respite, their four part male harmony magic on “Everything’s As If We Never Said Goodbye” (“Sunset Boulevard”) and “Bring Him Home” (“Les Misérables”) making the monkey reach for its tour dates guide.
Back on stage, a reminder of “The Masked Singer” times, with Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” – a song Barks admitted she had never considered until then.
More television, the start of her career, “As Long As He Needs Me” from “Oliver!” Delivered with increasing cockney desperation and even greater heartbreak.
A leap to the character closest to her heart after three years playing her in the West End, the only way to close act one, as dry ice fills the stage for “Let It Go” from “Frozen.” Sensational as usual.
Second act, a stunning red dress with glamorously sparkling long-drop earrings. Change of beat too, with “How Far I’ll Go” (“Moana”). Polynesian rhythms really suit her voice, raising the energy for the rest of the night.
Next number turned out to be another surprise choice. Telling us that she had sung it only once before on an Andrew Lloyd Webber TV special, and that it is usually sung with backing singers, “Another Suitcase In Another Hall” (“Evita”) proved unique.
Leaving out the usual echoes “so what happens now?” and just singing the replies as bitter internal self-reproachments works; Barks’s instinctive theatrical interpretation “not THAT fine” even more so. Another high (flying we adore).
Digression into how she might fare on “Celebrity Traitors” (lying in bed plotting when the “Frozen” cast played – she won the second one), nobody present will reveal which side she would pick…
On song again, a first time singing “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith. Something heard on Tik Tok that touched her mothering soul.
Time shift again, to 18, post “I’d Do Anything,” her first professional job as Sally Bowles in “Cabaret.” “Maybe This Time,” now sung looking back on those years in yearning, heartfelt, wistful fashion.
Musing on an audience question about what picks her up when she is down, “if it was easy, everyone would do it,” “Nothing meant for you will pass you by” and Victor Hugo’s note that music expresses what cannot be spoken, Samantha admits music is her refuge and always has been.
Family is everything to her, and for her grandparents, Shania Twain’s “You’re Still The One” proves a beautiful tribute, sliding into “When She Loved Me” (“Toy Story 2”) bringing tears to her eyes as she sings.
Returning to the “Masked Singer” again, and explaining that only her mother and husband knew of her double life, how she had to sneak off in disguise from her father and sister, she celebrates with “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims – a song she loves and we will.
Speaking of which “She Used to Be Mine” by Sara Bareilles from musical “Waitress” is a number the monkey wasn’t keen on… until now. With Samantha Barks singing, suddenly the emotion within is revealed – oddly on the same stage where monkey first heard it – and missed the point totally.
Only one way to close a sparkling evening. The song she will always hold closest, and delivered as only she can. “On My Own” from “Les Misérables.” Spellbinding, silent audience, every note and action seared forever into our memories.
In a way, this is the concert that should have taken place here in 2020 but was wiped out, alas. Worth the wait? Yes. Particularly as time has allowed Samantha Barks to accumulate more wonderful material and stories to share with us all.
If she is coming to a cathedral near you, go.
5 stars (standing ovation given)