And The Winner IS...

For their first ever production this recently formed society brought to us a show devised and directed by one of their founder members Fiona Grant. It comprised of 35 numbers from musicals which had over the years been either winners or nominees for the prestigious Tony or Olivier awards for Best Musical - a mix of well known and some not so well known numbers. Shows featured ranged from early winners such as South Pacific and Kiss Me Kate through A Little Night Music, Avenue Q and The Who’s Tommy to more modern shows like Hamilton and Six. There was a good mix of solos, duets, trios and ensemble numbers delivered to a high standard by the enthusiastic cast of 18 – 5 men and 13 ladies. Among the highlights in Act 1 was a heartfelt rendition of “I Hate Men” from Kiss Me Kate by Amy Lowe, Sam Smallwood and Sarah Travis, a humorous “You’ll Be Back” from Hamilton by Keiran Allan and a foot-tapping “You Can’t Stop The Beat” from Hairspray by Kirsty Shearer and Heather Hatch. It was brought to a close with a selection from Stephen Sondheim shows including one of my favourites “Comedy Tonight” from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, a delightful rendition of “Send In The Clowns” from A Little Night Music by Sarah Travis, “Another Hundred People” from Company by Fiona Grant and Heather Hatch and finally the whole cast in a superb “Sunday” from Sunday In The Park With George. Act 2 opened with Keiran Allan and a rendition of “Star Song” from Spamalot followed by a heart-rending “Tell Me Its Not True” from Blood Brothers by Kirsty Shearer. Among the other highlights we had a delightfully comic “For Now” from Avenue Q brought to us by a septet of singing commuters, a powerful rendition of “Think of Me” from Phantom of the Opera by Amy Lowe and “Another Suitcase” from Evita in a reflective rendition by Heather Hatch, Kirsty Shearer and Sam Smallwood. The evening was brought to a close with numbers from more modern shows such as Book of Mormon, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, an energetic rendition of “Six” from the show of the same name by a sextet of the ladies and “Greatest Show” from The Greatest Showman led by Heather Hatch. Costuming was kept simple – black dresses with a pop of colour for the ladies and white shirts and black trousers for the men for some numbers and jeans and t-shirts with the society’s logo for the others. The set too was simple with a star cloth backdrop, a few rostra which were used well and sympathetic lighting. Well done to everyone for bringing a veritable feast of music to our ears on a cold January evening.

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