As a fan who has been listening to Chaka Khan's music for a long time, I hoped that I'm Every Woman would be the powerhouse tribute the Queen of Funk deserved. Sadly, what unfolded at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre was an overlong, superficial affair that barely manages to scrape past the surface of her incredible life.
Things got off to a rocky start on press night with a delay of over thirty minutes, and by the time the curtain finally came down nearly three hours later, the fatigue in the auditorium was palpable. The fundamental flaw here lies in Nia T. Hill's thin, paper-light book. Much like other recent jukebox bio-musicals—MJ The Musical springs immediately to mind—the script relies heavily on surface-level tropes rather than genuine theatrical narrative.
Scenes feel disjointed and rushed, drained of pathos or real emotional weight. We see Chaka battle drug dependency and struggle with being away from her children, but the storytelling never poses the vital question: then what? The drama simply leaps from one life milestone to the next without giving any scene room to breathe or build meaningful stakes, leaving the audience unengaged with the narrative arc.
Visually and structurally, Racky Plews' production is standard fare. Ebony Clarke's choreography is fine, and the set design does its job, though relying almost entirely on video projections to execute scenic changes feels a bit cheap for a show of this scale. On performance duties, Chrissie Bhima is saddled with a somewhat mysterious, heightened character, but her overly exaggerated choices—even if intended as a stylistic device—come across as forced and deeply unnatural on stage. Miles Anthony Daley is excellent as Richard and Prince.
As for our lead, Alexandra Burke undoubtedly possesses an incredible set of pipes. Her vocal delivery on the big numbers is genuinely impressive, but she seems strangely detached. It feels as though Burke herself doesn't quite believe in the material she's being asked to perform, delivering her lines with a stiffness that undermines the soul of the music.
Chaka Khan's catalogue is undeniably legendary, but stunning songs alone cannot rescue a show with no emotional heart. At nearly three hours long, I'm Every Woman is a tedious, surface-level slog that fails to hold your interest.
It runs until 27 September. Tickets: here.
Photos: Danny Kaan