Jolson & Co – The Musical, King's Theatre, Leven Street

Published on Friday 27 February 2009 08:43

HE may have been the world's greatest entertainer, a superstar before the phrase came into existence, but few people were prepared to sing the praises of Al Jolson when it came to his personality, as audiences at The King's Theatre will discover tonight, when Allan Stewart breathes new life into his unforgettable songs in a new musical which tells his story.

Jolson & Co – The Musical, by Stephen Mo Hanan and Jay Berkow, features more than 15 of the star's legendary anthems, including I'm Sitting On Top Of The World, California Here I Come, You Made Me Love You, Sonny Boy, Swanee and, of course, My Mammy.

However, while these songs helped cement Jolson's public appeal, offstage he was a womaniser who pursued countless chorus girls and boasted an ego that would make Robbie 'I was the talented one in Take That' Williams look positively modest.

Massively insecure, Jolson was also known to have had fellow performers fired if they got louder applause than he did and by the early 1920s, when he was at the height of his fame and power, would regularly audition the work of new songwriters, often making minor adjustments to lyrics so that he could take a share in royalties.

None of which prevented Jolson from becoming the first recording artist to sell more than one million records – including 23 No1s. He also made the transition to star of screen in 'the world's first talkie', The Jazz Singer in 1929.

While lauded by stars such as Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, Jackie Wilson and Judy Garland, Jolson, who was born Asa Yoelson in Lithuania in 1886, hardly endeared himself to his first wife.

Henrietta Keller, whom he married in 1907, filed for divorce in 1918 after Jolson repeatedly recruited call girls to 'relieve his stress' between shows.

And it wasn't just Jolson's personality that polarised opinion. His now notorious penchant for "blacking up" on stage and screen still causes controversy, as the producers of Jolson & Co – The Musical discovered when they caused headlines recently after it was revealed that the show's star would not be applying black make-up for fear of offending members of the audience.

Allan Stewart himself, best-known to Edinburgh theatre-goers as a pantomime dame, made it clear the decision to omit Jolson's most famous trait of blacking up was not his.

"I personally believe it should be in there, but even the slightest sign of negativity could be bad for the show," says Stewart, who wore blackface makeup when portraying Jolson 12 years ago in the original musical of Jolson's life at the Victoria Palace, London.

In Jolson & Co – The Musical, Stewart will once again take the audience on a rollercoaster ride through the entertainer's life story. Set on the stage of the Winter Gardens – Jolson's second home in the 1920s – the tale is relayed through a series of flashbacks, as an eight-piece band play his best known songs.

The show transports us to the sights and sounds of that classic era.

Despite all the controversy, few can deny that Jolson's rags to riches story is still worth hearing.

Jolson & Co – The Musical, King's Theatre, Leven Street, tonight-March 7 (Not Sunday), 7.30pm (Saturday/Wednesday matinees 2.30pm), 12.50-25, 0131-529 6000