BAOS Goes To Hollywood

BAOS treated us to a night at the cinema, performing numbers from the big golden age musicals and the silver screen cinema blockbusters.

As we entered the venue, we walked the red carpet through a lovely art deco styled archway into the hall continuing the art deco theme, setting the stage for the evening. The set was a series of angled silver and gold glittered flats with geometric patterns characteristic of the Art Deco era. A star cloth back drop added to the glamourous feel of the set. The lighting shifted with the mood of each piece complementing the music perfectly.

The well-designed programme of company numbers, solo, duets, small groups and dance routines was well put together and had something in there to please everyone, from the opening “Lets Go To The Movies” to “Bless Your Beautiful Hide” “The Frug” and an entertaining Bond, Disney  and Golden Oldies medley. One of the things I truly enjoy about watching revues is the chance to see all company members have the opportunity to take centre stage—often those who don’t typically take on the lead roles in the group’s main productions. These settings give everyone a chance to showcase their skills. While I can’t highlight every individual performance, I really enjoyed “Lets Go To The Movies”. “Choreography”  and “I’m Just Ken” were also a real highlight. The entire company brought high energy from start to finish, delivering an entertaining and polished performance.

The 7-piece band was ably led by Naomi Lane and positioned at the back of the stage on a raised platform. there were moments when the starts of songs were slightly hesitant perhaps due to performers not being able to see the Conductor. At times I did feel that the music seemed to overpower the singers a little. There were also some issues with cueing the radio microphones on the night I attended.

The choreography was created by multiple members of the cast, and showed an impressive array of different dance genres, Ballet to Ballroom, to Latin and Tap It was all well-suited to the group's abilities and was well executed.

There were a lot of what seemed very quick costume changes, with costumes and props giving an essence of the show each number was from.

In conclusion, I had a lovely entertaining evening. Well done to everyone involved for delivering an entertaining performance that showcased the joy of the Hollywood Musicals.

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