A Night at the Musicals

It was a delight to spend an evening with Eastwood Entertainers watching a talented group of performers and friends showcase their talents on a diverse selection of numbers.  The song choice by Aimee and Andrew was wide-ranging covering all types of musical theatre, and as a result really appealed the whole demographic of the audience which was evident from the response and applause the cast received as the night progressed.  A clever balance of some classics, along with more modern and less well-known songs was executed very well and the club should be commended for pushing the boundaries of the expectation from a traditional musical theatre concert.

The full ensemble was very strong, and Andrew and Fiona had them working hard with challenging harmonies, energetic movement and lots of character work as well to bring emotion and humour out the numbers as required. The stage was full of individual reactions to songs being performed which really brought another level to the performance.  In particular I could not take my eyes off of Jennifer McKay, Clare Walsh and Colette Crampsey who were giving 110% in every number they appeared in. 

It would be difficult to comment on every number, and result in a very lengthy show report, so instead I would like to congratulate the full cast for all their performances and simply highlight some special moments that came shining though.  The strength in the bigger choral numbers like; “Nine to Five”, “Raise Your Voice” and “You Can’t Stop the Beat” was outstanding and was mirrored superbly with softer energy in the touching “Sunday” which ended the first half.

The male ensemble performing “Two by Two” was genius, hilarious and a definite crowd pleaser … with lots of muttering around an audience scattered with Am Dram friends of “where did they find all those talented men!”  Boys I would expect a lot of phone calls from many local clubs!!

There were also beautiful solo and duet numbers woven between the full ensemble pieces, and in particular “Journey to the Past” performed by Jennifer Scott, “Memory” performed by Kirsten MacDonald, “The Movie in my Mind” performed by Jen McNair and Laura Black, and “King Herod’s Song” performed by Raymond Caffery were just exceptional.  Raymond’s number was also supported by a group of dancers performing a very quirky and stylish dance routine to bring more comedy to the number which was effective.

As I said these aren’t all the numbers in the programme, and the full cast should be proud of all performances given.

A huge congratulations to the entire club, crew, production team and committee for a well-executed concert that truly was a fantastic “Night at the Musicals”.

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