Broadway And Beyond

May I begin by thanking you for your hospitality and warm reception, the crowns filled with chocolate coins on the tables were a fun touch and set the evening off to a great start.

The concert was divided into three acts taking us from the 1500’s right up to present day. We started with a couple of numbers from Six, they were delivered very professionally by six members of the senior cast and set the bar for the rest of the performance. Hamilton came next with some great solo lines from individuals, Megan Clarke stood out for me in this number because she really used her face and her body language to echo and emote the lyrics. Kat Rogers gave us a very moving solo of Burn, I know Kat wasn’t happy with her performance because of throat issues but for me it simply added to the emotion of the song and gave it a very personal touch. The ensemble closed the first act with some Les Miserables, the vocals were strong, the individual pieces were clear and the choreography was well executed. There was a little blip where someone’s vocal was missing due to illness but the ensemble coped well and didn’t miss a beat.

Act two was opened with some Chicago. The choreography was strong, but for me some of the Fosse hand movements weren’t just as slick as they should have been. It is a very distinctive style of dance and is probably just me being ultra picky. Nick Butterworth treated us to a fabulous performance of Mr.Cellophane - his facial expressions and delivery were perfect for this number, also great tone. Pep Lally boomed in next as the memorable Mama Morton, it was a fun, enjoyable performance which did unfortunately contain a few nerves and a couple of words were forgotten ( it happens to us all) but it was a strong well delivered performance. We were treated to some Bonnie and Clyde next, Nick Butterworth and Kyle Dunne were paired and gave us a fantastic rendition of "You Can Do Better Than Him" which set the tone for Darcey McCoy to wow us withher version of "Dyin’ Ain’t So Bad", with Darcey every song she sings is a full on performance, the audience can feel the emotion and we can see the story in the lyrics cross her face as she feels every word. Kyle Dunne then roared on with "Raise A Little Hell", it was a fantastic performance and his voice contained a great rocky rasp which lends itself well to that particular song.

Act three opened with Emily Simister giving us some Electricity Emily has great tone and is a very capable singer . She was followed by Caroline Simister who along with Darcey McCoy showed us how it was done with a beautiful rendition of "The Movie In My Mind", it was expressive with full vocal acrobatics and great facial expressions. George Denton was a fabulous Jamie. His vocals and facial expressions were very enjoyable to watch and he certainly knows how to work a stage and deliver a performance. Linzi McCoy performed the showstopper "My Boy" from Jamie. She gave us just enough of herself as she sang from her heart. It would be nice to see a bit more of Linzi performing instead of her always taking a back seat because when she lets go she is a true force to be reckoned with . The ensemble closed the show with "Raise You Up", it was obviously a number that they all enjoyed and their enthusiasm was very apparent.

I haven’t covered every single song sung or mentioned every single performer but you were all very enjoyable to watch and I look forward to seeing you all again very soon.

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