Back To The 80s

What a brilliant return to the theatre for Easy Street Theatre Company (ESTC) with this feel good musical written by Neil Gooding and adapted by Scott Copeman.  The production was directed by Sallianne Foster-Major who together with Musical Director, Gareth Lloyd and Choreographer, Amanda Tyas, have supported this talented group through a very difficult time.  However, regardless of the difficulties faced, they have given young people the opportunity to rehearse, perform, continue their creative development and importantly come together– a testament to the dedication and commitment of the management team behind ESTC. 

The story told is of an adult Corey Palmer looking back at his time as a senior at an American High School in the 80s.  The trials and tribulations of these young Americans including love, friendships and future challenges are played out with a clever soundtrack of some of the chart topping hits from the decade. 

The young people had clearly worked hard on their characterisation and accents which were well maintained throughout.  Corey Palmer (Junior) was superbly played by Dan Rossiter.  This was a really empathetic portrayal which helped us to engage with the character.   His love interest, Tiffany Houston, was confidently performed by Daisy Peacock whose singing voice was well demonstrated in her numbers.   Ben Rossiter took the role of Fergal McFerrin, the class computer geek, who entertained the audience with his many predictions about the technological world in which we were soon to live.  I also really enjoyed his rendition of ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’.   Michael Fieldman was the ‘villain’ of the piece (Declan Saxton) and was menacing with his slick ‘jock’ character.  Olivia Davey was great as the excitable Eileen Reagan and Harry Foster-Major played the role of adult Corey Palmer, whose strong voice really added to this role, along with his ability to engage the audience in his narration of the story.

There was excellent character portrayals from all on stage - with great performances from Nancy Mitchell (Miss Brannigan) and Amelie McLoughlin (Mr Cocker) as the teachers.  A particular mention must also go to Poppy Sefton, Gracie Woods, Ciara Keen and Freya Turner who, along with McLoughlin, very convincingly played males characters.   There was great energy from Alecia Whitworth as Kim, Ella Foxton as Mel, Kadie Akers as Cyndi, Callie-Lou Wallis as Debbie and Alice Dalley as Laura who totally ‘got’ the teenage angst, anticipation, energy and excitement all whilst wearing leg warmers and ra-ra skirts.

The musical numbers were most enjoyable and every routine was cleverly choreographed to take you right back to the days of Cyndi Lauper and Madonna.   The young performers were supported by a live band who were fully immersed in the production as they too featured on stage and engaged with the production. Everyone on stage demonstrated absolute enthusiasm for this production and the featured singers performed some great numbers.  Each song certainly took me ‘back to the 80s’ and it was a very enjoyable journey!

The costumes were authentic (and this writer knows that as they resembled the contents of her wardrobe four decades ago).  The set was minimalist and cleverly moved by the stage crew – I was amazed at how three segments of a Rubik’s could be adapted so many time.  There was effective use of lighting to give the required atmosphere and clever decorations added for the Concert and Prom scenes.

The performing arts have seen some challenges over the last 18 months and the dedication of the adults involved in should be applauded along with the performances of the young people on stage.  Congratulations to everyone involved both off stage and on stage – a really entertaining production which demonstrates the commitment from the whole team at Easy Street and The Montgomery Theatre. 

Thank you. 

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