For the love of Amy

SINGER Reine Beau Anderson Dudley is an Amy Whitehouse tribute act but, she stresses, not an impersonator.

The 24-year-old star of the show Back To Black says: “I don’t dress up like her or wear a beehive. I just go on stage as me.

“It means more when, coming off stage after a performance, you get someone saying, ‘You really did her justice’, you know? That’s what you do it for.”

The show, which visits Henley tonight (Friday) charts the rise to fame of the six-time Grammy winner, who died in 2011 at the age of 27.

Reine, who is originally from Weymouth, takes the role of Winehouse in the 50-minute production, which celebrates the iconic singer who had huge success with songs including Stronger Than Me, Rehab, Valerie, Take The Box and Pumps.

The show was a sell-out hit at the Edinburgh Fringe and the critics raved about it.

The Edinburgh Guide called it “a heartfelt, gutsy and justifiably-packed performance”.

It continued: “Reine infused the performance with so much feeling and emotion that we could hardly be unmoved. She had clearly mastered all the essential qualities that made Amy’s voice both so unique and instantly recognisable, investing heart and soul for maybe the greatest soul singer of our time.”

Reine, who is a graduate of the Brighton Institute of Modern Music, whose alumni include James Bay and the Kooks, says: “It was an amazing month, super-intense. I was doing four shows a day — that’s the most work I’ve ever done.

“In the first week, I thought I was going to lose my voice and I started freaking out. It was pretty mental.

“I managed to hold it together for the whole thing. On the very last night, I lost it during the performance and then by the end, when I was saying ‘thank you’ to everyone, it was just like squeaks coming out.

“We had really nice reviews and the feedback from people after the shows was just great.”

Reine feels she has an affinity with Winehouse.

“I’ve always loved Amy — she is such an inspiration to me. I feel like we had similar musical upbringings. I also listened to a lot of jazz when I was younger and that’s what I’m rooted in.

“All of her stuff really suits my voice and it’s just such a joy to sing. I just love her.”

It was Dan Clews, the production manager, who approached her with the idea of the show.

Reine says: “It’s not something I’d really thought about but it made me revisit all of Amy’s work and that started another love affair with her music.

“Hers are such big boots to fill and it’s not something you’d want to do lightly. I don’t want to go on stage and impersonate her, I don’t think that’s right and I don’t think she would like that, either.

“The thing with Amy is that her story has been told so many times and it’s not for me to tell. It’s more like, let’s get together and celebrate her incredible musical contribution.

“We talk about the musical side, where Amy was when she was writing a specific song and what inspired her. They’re just such incredible songs that she was writing when she was 19.”

• Back to Black is at the Kenton Theatre tonight (Friday) at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £25. For more details and to buy tickets, call the box office on (01491) 525050 or visit www.kentontheatre.co.uk