I first heard/saw the “Sisters” when they were performing/recording with Mr Buble but, The Puppini Sisters are an English (I had no idea!) close harmony vocal trio formed in 2004 by Italian-born singer Marcella Puppini. She called on English singers ‘original Puppini red head’ Rosana Schura and Kate Mullins, among other members through its lifetime, to join her. Although the three are not related, the name was chosen in tribute to The Andrews Sisters. They all met at the same music college, but their résumés were very different: Kate (the blonde) had sung in the heavy metal band Killed In Action; Marcella (the brunette) had recorded the dance hit ‘Revolution’ after serving time in a punk group; and Rosanna came from a classical background. Rosanna left the group previously and has recently returned for just a few dates on this 12th anniversary tour and her final date was tonight - we were honoured to have her there.
Their debut single was a cover of ‘Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy’ and their second album, ‘The Rise and Fall of Ruby Woo’ includes original compositions by the group. Backed by a band of Marton Kolarides on guitar, Henrik Jensen on double bass and Peter Ibbetson on drums, their versatile and well-matched, although contrasting, voices compliment the genre of 40s/50s doo-wop very well. 
The show opens with the girls… sorry, ladies…entering suiting outfits adorned with coloured pompoms. Starting off with ‘Is This The High Life’ from their latest crowd-funded album, their certainly made their mark for the night before showing their talents of Westmeister accordion and melodica through rejuvenated favourites like ‘Sandman’, Judy Garland’s ‘Get Happy’, Bananarama’s ‘It Ain’t What You Do’, ‘Tennessee Waltz’, ‘Changes’, ‘Accentuate The Positive’ and newer tracks of Sia’s ‘Chandelier’ that appear as a jazzy jam session, showing that they love what they do and are great at it!
Kate solos ‘Love Me Tender’, Marcella does ‘Everything Is Beautiful’ and Rosanna sang Joni Mitchell’s ‘A Case of You’ and their performance of Missy Elliott’s ‘Work It’ is different in a night of wordy wonders. I can only imagine how much they will have warmed their lips up before applying the red lipstick!
My favourite of the night was their version of Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ which ended with a Disney reference, after their entrance to the second half in red dresses and impressive hats. Then came ‘Tico Time’ and their ‘mental’ ‘vocalize’ scatting of ‘We Love To…Be Bop’. As if the show couldn’t end any camper, it does with ‘supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’, with changed words. They even did a medley of (seven) songs earlier including ‘Bills, Bills, Bills’ by Destiny’s Child, ‘Money Makes The World Go Around’ from Cabaret, ‘Madonna’s Material Girl’, Diamond Are A Girl’s Best Friend’, etc.
With some technical issues near the beginning of the show, from the evident problem with Kate’s earphone - meaning that she couldn’t hear herself singing - to the lack of echo or reverb and the odd lighting cues, they muddled through, even with signature yet improvised choreography (unrelated to the technicalities).
If you get chance to see these talents in future, go for it!
Reviewer: Chris Oatway
Reviewed: 9th March 2016
