The key to a successful tribute show is a skillful combination of looking and sounding like the original artist but remaining sufficiently detached from them that the audience really gets to appreciate the skill of the artist on stage. Jodie Jackson knows this and, consequently, her Madonna tribute show, Material Girl, is a fantastic homage to one of the few remaining global megastars.
Backed by a huge “ghetto blaster” backdrop, which doubles as a video screen to help tell Madonna’s amazing story, the stage is left quite open to allow for the recreation of the iconic dance routines that accompany so many of Madonna’s greatest hits.
Jodie is backed by six dancers, Charlotte O’Brien, Katie Amos, James Alexander Chew, Louis Geirnaert and Stephen Johnson, led by their Dance Captain Lindsey Alexander. Their slick, tight and energetic choreography, by Samantha Heather, is firmly set in both time and place. From the outset, dressed in the neon colours and sequins that epitomised the 80’s, the team work tirelessly to enhance Jodie’s performance with dance styles that change as we travel through more than 20 years of multi-million selling songs.
The show works chronologically through Madonna’s hits starting with Borderline and Lucky Star, from her 1983 eponymous album, right the way through to her 2005 hit Hung Up, which went to number one in 41 countries around the world. Video clips of the important events in Madonna’s life, and some of her films, accompany the performance, with Jodie throwing in a few extra facts as we go along as well.
The concert features all of the very best of Madonna including Holiday, Like a Virgin, Material Girl, Crazy for You, Into the Groove, Papa Don’t Preach, La Isla Bonita, Like a Prayer, Vogue and Express Yourself. Jodie also performs a stunningly heartfelt rendition of Madonna’s lesser known 1989 single, Oh Father.
The combination of incredible vocals, multiple costume changes (all based on Madonna’s original outfits), faultlessly energetic dancing, clever lighting and video design, together with the most amazing back catalogue of brilliant songs, make for a very enjoyable evening with the entire audience on their feet, singing, dancing and clapping along to the megamix medley finale.
Jodie Jackson obviously loves the music of Madonna and through her enthusiasm for the person and her music, Material Girl is a first class tribute to an amazing woman, by an amazing woman.
***** Five Stars