A West End Walk

With an enforced change of venue with just a couple of days notice you might think that the show would go into meltdown (I know as a previous Director I would probably have thrown the towel in) but TOS and the production team of Dawn Trevor, Scott Edwards and Richard Dawson seemed to embrace the challenge as they transformed the compact theatre into a warm and intimate setting for their latest production “A West End Walk”.

The room at Barnard Castle School was set out perfectly, with the audience all sat at Bistro style tables and able to enjoy a glass or two of their favourite tipple, looking on to a 3 tiered stage with the 4 piece band on the top elevation. A light sparkled back drop and amazing lighting and sound from The CDB Group gave the cast a perfect platform to show off their talent – and show it off they certainly did.

Compered by the charismatic and charming Daniel Vickers who took us on a tour round the West End with interesting facts and stories, giving a backdrop to each number, the huge cast of an astonishing 55 members gave us a wonderful repertoire of 24 Musical Hits.

With 2 intervals each block needed great opening numbers and these were brilliantly chosen. The tone was set with an energetic and very strong opening performance of Welcome To The Rock with good solo vocals and a well worked Ensemble number with simple yet very effective choreography.

 It is impossible to give a detailed description of the whole show and each number but don’t let me highlighting a number of performances distract from the overall excellence of the evening – it was wonderful.

The men were very clearly outnumbered in this production but that did not show in the quality. Jordan Hamilton-Leighton gave us 2 hysterical performances of Betrayed from The Producers before pairing up with Scott Edwards for You and Me from the Book of Mormon again highlighting how good a comical actor he is with strong vocals to match.

Scott himself took on a number of lead vocals with his personal highlight being a very passionate and powerful Gethsemane, a song most performers would run a mile from such is the range and emotion required yet he absolutely smashed it and probably some of the windows around the building.

The vocal performance of the evening from the men came from Richard Hamilton-Leighton and Being Alive from Company, a wonderful vocal display and amazing story telling. Some of the notes that were held were breath-taking (literally).

With Andy Moorhouse giving us a wonderful camp intro to Act 3 with Wilkommen and Martin Wallis continuing to impress with confident vocals in If I Were a Rich Man and Master of the House, brilliantly duetted with Karen Davison, the men did not disappoint in the main ensemble numbers too. For a small group the harmonies were exceptional, most notably in the ballad of Sweeny Todd and the Les Miz Medley and at no point were they overpowered by the ladies or Junior chorus. It was particularly refreshing to hear a group not shy away from the high Tenor lines.

The ladies have continued to grow in numbers since the Group was formed and they gave us some wonderful numbers. Like a good Red Wine, Gail Barlow and Anita Wilkinson just keep getting better and they gave us a lovely soulful rendition of Tell Me It’s Not True from Blood Brothers. It was also nice to see some other members take the spotlight with Joanne Wall impressing with Whistle Down the Wind, Evie Brenkley taking the lead in Somewhere and Susie Kitson warming up Act 3 with maybe This Time. The Ladies chorus work was note perfect and they clearly were enjoying every minute of this production.

Normally hiding behind the scenes, it was lovely to see Dawn Trevor on stage, her version of Quiet Uptown from Hamilton (very ably assisted by Scott and Isobel Harvey, was simply divine. Wonderful staging, clever lighting all assisted the beautiful vocals and very emotional performance, you could hear a pin drop such was the drama on stage in 1 short number. You may have converted me to Hamilton Dawn!!

What is great to see with Teesdale is that they are embracing their Youth side of the society, not only giving them their own shows but incorporating them with the Adult section. With the talent on display, the Society has a very strong future ahead and, unlike some shows, they were not used in the background but rightly given their chance to shine.

With Scott Edwards taking the lead, the Juniors gave us a powerful introduction to their next show, The School of Rock with Stick it To The Man and boy did they stick it to us. My favourite number from the Junior Chorus was Radio Gaga, not only were the vocals fabulous bit the Robotic choreography was ideal for a song about a digital takeover world with the whole group in perfect sync with each other throughout.

The Junior members also had the chance for some solo spotlight work and they certainly stood up amongst more experienced members of the cast. Florence Backes just continues to get better and better and her vocals and gentle spirit in My House was beautiful to watch; Holly Wake was very brave in taking the lead in Defying Gravity and was truly on point with her vocals; Nate Robinson had a wonderful soulful lead in Sit Down You’re Rockin The Boat and Grace Robinson and Benji Wilson were outstanding with lead vocals in Seasons Of Love (Grace that note – OMG!!)

I have seen Six performed a number of times recently, mostly from adult members but the 6 of Maya Ahmad, Florence Backes, Lily McCormack, Grace Robinson, Freya Shepherd-Pegman and Izzy Yeadon showed that age is no substitute for talent. A wonderful routine, great vocals and stunning costumes with amazing shoes handmade by dawn blew us away at the end of Act 2.

The Junior performance of the night, however, has to go to Izzy Kerr singing She Used to Be Mine. With perfect tone, amazing use of light and shade in her vocals Izzy told the story of themes much more advance than her years and wowed the audience. 2 days on and the hairs are still stood up on my arms!

To think that TOS only started performing less than a year ago, to pack a concert with such a detailed programme is a huge achievement. This show was slick, very well choreographed and the final number (a passionate and vocally complex medley from Les Miserables) was a perfect way to demonstrate how far they have come and “Suddenly” Musical Theatre is thriving in the Dales of County Durham.

A huge well done and I can’t wait to watch your next show Little Shop of Horrors and what the future holds.

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