Bigger Better Louder Together

This year brought together two amazing talented groups, after 109 years of bringing entertainment to the North East “Seaham Theatre Productions” amalgamated with “In Your Face Theatre” to become “In Your Face Theatre Seaham” and to fortify these two groups a two night concert was produced to celebrate over 100 years of musical history from members both past and present. The concert was also dedicated to the memory of a former member
June Amundsen and it was so nice to see June’s daughter Rachael performing as part of the celebration. The production team consisted of Stephanie Peacock in the role of Director, Rachael Smith as Choreographer and Jennie Watson as Musical Director and between the production team they pulled together a selection of songs from musicals performed over the groups 100 years of existence which was set to some nice pieces of choreography and accompanied by a three piece band, sound and lighting was good and to give that special ambiance the venue was set in cabaret style and bring the show together David Jackson acted as compere.
 
The show opened with Rachel Smith and Jon Isbell singing “No Business Like Show Business” a beautiful duet from the show Annie Get Your Gun, I particularly liked the choreography and a great number to open the show, Sam J Scott delivered a very mature rendition of “Not One Maidens Breast” from Pirates of Penzance and Irene Smith delivered one of my favourite numbers “How Are Things In Glocca Morra” from Finians Rainbow, Stephanie Peacock and Jon Isbell delivered a comedy performance from Annie Get Your Gun “Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better”  and Jon, Stephanie can certainly hold that note longer than anyone else, Good characterisation from Rachel Smith in her solo number “I Can’t Say No” from Oklahoma which was followed by Corey Clark who delivered a strong mature performance with clear vocals to the number “On The Street Where You Live” from My Fair Lady. Rachael Amundsen and the female chorus delivered a raucous rendition of “Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair” from South Pacific which was followed by Stephanie Peacock delivering a beautiful number from Jekyll and Hyde “Bring On The Men” excellent number and fantastic performance, Deborah Taylor-Smith and Martyn Banks delivered a perfect rendition of Suddenly Seymour  from the “Little Shop Of Horrors” with was followed by David Jackson and Corey Clark singing “Feed Me” this was an excellent duet with both men delivering a fantastic performance and great characterisations. Martyn Banks song the very tongue twisting number “Modern Major General” from Pirates of Penzance again another great performance and vocals. Alexandra Cox delivered a beautiful number “Freedom Road” from Bad Girls, very soulful and beautiful vocals, lifting the tempo was Lia Challoner and Sam J Scott singing “Lambeth Walk” from Me and My Girl, great vocals from two talented youths. There followed a great choreographed tap routine performed by Alexandra Cox and the female chorus singing the title number from “Me and My Girl”. Rachel Smith and Andy Oliver led the full cast singing a medley of songs from “The Sound of Music”, special mention to Aimee Curtis who portrayed the character Gretl this number was well delivered with some stand out vocals, to close the first act David Jackson and the cast delivered an action packed and passionate performance of the number “Sit Down Your Rocking The Boat” from Guys and Dolls, David certainly can deliver a stand out performance with great vocals and very entertaining which left the audience on a high and wanting to hear more. The second Act opened with a trilogy of songs from the musical singing in the Rain; Rachel Smith, Jon Isbell and Graeme Smith delivered the iconic number “Good Morning” excellent vocals and a well polished choreographed  tap routine, visually this was a good opening to the second act, Sam J Scott and Corey Clark delivered a very funny interpretation of ”Make em Laugh” which was followed by Graham Smith who sang the title number “Singing in the Rain”, Graeme always delivers an accomplished  performance he has excellent vocals and all those years of dancing he was able to deliver a skilful tap routine. There followed two numbers from the musical Rent, Stephanie Peacock and Alexandra Cox delivered a beautiful and powerful performance of “Take Me or Leave Me” excellent vocals and good stage presence before the whole cast sang the delightful number “Seasons of Love”. Lia Challoner delivered a beautiful interpretation of “Somewhere over the Rainbow” from the Wizard of Oz this was followed by an outstanding performance by Rachael Amundsen delivering a powerful solo performance of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from the beautiful musical Carousel this was followed by a well deserved ovation from the audience, Donna Hanley and the children delivered a good performance of “Getting to Know You from The King and I before we were back in  Deadwood city as Stephanie Peacock sang “Deadwood Stage” from Calamity Jane, Martyn Banks  delivered a powerful performance of “If I Was A Rich Man” as the character Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof, followed by another beautiful number from Rachael Amundson “Wouldn’t It Be Lovely” from My Fair, Graeme Smith evenly matched this number with an incredible vocal performance of “This is the Moment” from my favourite musical Jekyll and Hyde beautiful delivered and well appreciated by the audience it was over to Andy Oliver next to deliver a strong performance accompanied by the male cast singing the  number “Luck Be A Lady” from Guys and Dolls, the whole cast then gave us a  preview of the title number of their forth coming show “Made in Dagenham”, I’m looking forward to seeing that. To conclude the evening the whole cast sang a culmination of musical numbers from Lionel Bart’s iconic musical Oliver, Deborah Taylor-Smith with the cast sang a raucous rendition of “Oom-pah-pah” followed by Martyn Banks as the invidious but loving rogue Fagan with Sam J Scott, Aimee Curtis and cast singing “You’ve Got To Pick a Pocket or Two” this was a perfect finale to a fun packed evening of song and dance which cemented the alliance of this two groups, I personally would like to wish “In Your Face Theatre Seaham” all the best for the future and look forward to your next adventure “Made in Dagenham, well done to everyone..
 

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