Broadway Rocks

The Youth of Prestwich are on a mission to tell us that Broadway Rocks!

This musical concert, celebrating the music from shows with electric scores sees sections from ‘Tommy’, ‘Rock Of Ages’, ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, ‘American Idiot’ and ‘We Will Rock You’ amongst others.

The set up was reminiscent of a rock gig; the 5 piece band were raised on staggered steal decking along the back, the snug performance space was well lit with impressive lighting design, the enthusiastic audience of parents, aunties and uncles were given glow sticks, even the stage crew were part of the fun as they positioned microphone stands and moved staging blocks for the performers dressed as Roadies.

This show was too long, 10:25pm is late for any show to come down! I could see from the programme that a fair amount of numbers had already been axed which I’m assuming was due to the length of the show but we still could have done with at least another 15 minutes off.

Under the Direction and Choreography of Helen Wilkinson, her choreography didn’t always gel with the music but her concept and design was faultless; a terrific idea which I’m sure has given an enjoyable experience to all involved.

The ensemble certainly had their work cut out as they were hardly ever off stage. Yes, there were a few choreography hiccups and looks to mates for reassurance that they’re doing the right moves but you could tell the majority of the youngsters warmed up as the performance got into full swing.

The Musical Director (Scott Stait) has clearly been a credit to this production, his clever musical arrangements and refreshing ideas shone through, the sound from his very capable band gave the perfect punch to the gritty selection of songs. Act 2 saw numbers from ‘Les Miserables’, ‘Miss Saigon’ and ‘Wicked’, In keeping with the theme, Scott’s musical arrangements injected a rock edge to these songs which added a whole new feel to the well-known classics, a brave and creative technique presenting a James Hetfield esk ‘Phantom of the Opera’ and an Avril Lavigne style arrangement of ‘Defying Gravity’ – A passionate Musical Director who isn’t afraid to put the hours in, I have no doubt he’ll be in high demand amongst the Am Dram scene very soon!

Particular stand out performances from the kids were the lead vocals in ‘One Night Only’, the two lead singers of ‘Phantom of the Opera’ and the two girls who performed the mash up of ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ and ‘On My Own’.

There were a few problems with microphones not being turned on at the right time but hopefully this will get slicker through the rest of the week.

Thank you, PADOS for your hospitality and enjoy the rest of the run!

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.