This night begins in a pattern that was to follow for the rest of the night. On a giant projection screen at the back of the stage, we are shown a fictional recording of an ‘Eagle FM’ DJ talking about The Carpenters and introducing the first song. The band strikes up and a few songs follow, before another little introduction from ‘Eagle’ and a fact about the next song. That, I’m afraid, is about it, rendering the “story” part of the production’s title misleading.

As someone who doesn’t really know anything about The Carpenters apart from a couple of their really popular songs, I was hoping to learn some more, but left none the wiser. There is, therefore, initial disappointment that we aren’t seeing a more developed show, but simply a concert of covers; yet judging the show on its own merits, I still found it somewhat underwhelming.

There are some real highlights. Singer Claire Furley is excellent in her performance. She has a strong voice, but also conveys Karen Carpenter’s voice with studied professionalism. She has obviously spent time working out how to replicate Carpenter’s delivery, and that comes across as a real positive. Along with this, she has a bubbly, cheerful performance style while maintaining a professional manner. The band, arranged by pianist (and the show’s producer) Phil Aldridge, are excellent musicians and have a fantastic saxophonist who also plays everything from tambourine to jazz flute. However, they are lacking a bit in energy, which lets the pace drop a little throughout the performance. This also means it appears a little untidy and does not always match the polish of Furley’s performance.

However, as pleasant as the live music is, my main problem with the production is that it really fails to fulfil its potential. The projection screen is wasted throughout as, bar a few pictures of The Carpenters and their albums, the vast majority of the time is spent showing what appears to be a Windows Media Player screensaver. Understandably, slowly moving geometric shapes do not really enhance my understanding of the group or their songs. It contributes a little to general atmosphere, but with the screen spanning the entirety of the cyclorama, this appears a massive waste of potential.

The lack of general information about The Carpenters and their chronological journey is also a real disappointment. Putting aside the fact that their songs do not really match my musical persuasion, I found it really hard to engage, as they did not allow me to access their story and songs through any factual or emotional revelations. While this does not take away any enjoyment from the live music, it means that I can’t recommend it to anyone that does not know The Carpenters’ back catalogue, even if you are interested in finding out any more. If you know and love The Carpenters, you’ll probably enjoy it a lot, but otherwise I can’t honestly say that you’ll get a lot out of it.

The Carpenters Story played at the Richmond Theatre until 20 May. For more information, see the ATG Tickets website.