A glimpse at the track-listing doesn’t immediately show a huge sense of adventurousness. Four Lloyd Webber tracks, Oliver! and Les Mis elsewhere, it’s not really the stuff to make you sit up and pay attention. That happens when Criswell opens her mouth – whether fabulously wrestling Evita’s ‘Rainbow High’ into submission or dealing out a bold and brassy ‘Don’t Rain On My Parade’, there’s something remarkable about the forceful control of her vocal.
There’s (comparative) restraint too. ‘On My Own’ is suffused with all of Éponine’s vulnerability, The Man of La Mancha’s ‘What Does He Want Of Me’ is a gloriously old-school soprano classic and ‘Mr Monotony’, an Irving Berlin track new to me – taken from a Jerome Robbins anthology show – builds beautifully into a Broadway showstopper. Criswell may have lived in the UK for many years now but she is Broadway to the bone and this is evident throughout the album.