Merman at the Jermyn

Ethel Merman: 'Grande Dame of the Broadway Stage' or nasal-voiced old belter? A bit of both, probably. She had a glittering Broadway career, but struggled to make the transition to the silver screen. For some, she is the epitome of early showbiz glamour, for others a bawler with only the one setting: very loud. Either way, January 16th 2008 was what would have been the dear old girl's 100th birthday, and Merman at the Jermyn provides a celebration and commemoration of her life and works.

Originally scheduled for just the one night, there is another performance of Merman at the Jermyn on 30th March. The first night sold out in a flash and it ain't hard to see why. Dominic Mattos is an Ethel Merman obsessive: ask him anything about old Ethel and he knows the answer. 'She's just always been somebody I've been drawn to and admired for her joie de vivre,' Mattos explains. It is this understanding of his subject that makes the evening such a joy.

Merman at the Jermyn is effectively a Merman tribute act. Mattos enters the stage in the kind of pink gown that wouldn't look out of place swathed around Margot from 'The Good Life'. With little ado – Merman always used to say herself that 'I'm, uh, not very good in the talking department' – he launches into a slightly re-worded version of It's Today. Of course, this number was never actually performed by Merman, but this is part of the fun of the evening – Mattos performs both actual Merman numbers and other tunes that he imagines she might have liked. A rousing version of A Lot of Livin' to Do follows, and then Baltimore and Me, in which Mattos displays his immaculate comic timing.

Over the course of the evening, adroitly accompanied on piano by Matthew Floyd, Mattos blasts through all the hits: Anything You Can Do, The International Rag, I Get a Kick out of You, Some People, and, naturally, There's No Business like Show Business. The highlight of the evening is Mattos' reprisal of Merman's famous medley, compiled especially for her by her great friend Roger Edens. In all probability this is the first time that this has been performed in the UK since Merman did it herself all those years ago.

Whilst, of course, Mattos is a man – the name Dominic being something of a giveaway – this is not an evening of over-the-top damery. Or rather, it is not only an evening of over-the-top damery. The evening is prevented from becoming mockery by his obvious passion for his subject and by his incredible voice, which captures the Merman bluster admirably. Yet the evening also steers clear of mindless hagiography, as some of the interim conversation sheds light on the more melancholic aspects of Merman's life: her four failed marriages, for example. Of course, numbers such as You Can't Get a Man with a Gun are given a new level of humour, something which is Mattos is not shy to capitalise upon, but never really at Merman's expense. This is a charming evening. Bold and brash like Merman herself, but also strangely touching, this is an unusual treat not only for Merman fans but also for normal people too.

Merman was at the Jermyn Street Theatre on 30 March 2008.