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Broadway under the Stars

Author: Leslie Judd

Information

Date
20th September 2024
Society
Downham Amateur Dramatic Society (DADS)
Venue
Downham & Clackclose Conservative Club
Type of Production
Concert
Director
Della-Marie Reed
Musical Director
James De Silva
Producer
James De Silva

Broadway under the stars, in a town centre garden, what could be riskier in September, fortunately the gamble paid off. It might have turned a little cold later in the evening but with a good single malt from the bar in the interval that kept me going.

Being open air on a stage built within the confines of an inflatable shelter, there was much to contend with – a small performance space, erecting a lighting rig, sound disappearing on the wind. In fact, none of these became a problem however sound did occasionally fail on the first words of a song. With the restrictions in performance rights, the choreography was well timed and well designed. Costumes again with restrictions enforced gave hints to the characters being portrayed, although it was a shame that with some of the company numbers the cast could not have been classier in their dress. More personal feel was that one or two of the soloists could have been more glamour, less dowdy. A smile also goes a long way as well as making the singing sweeter As some of the shows were unknown to me or known by name only it might have been nice to have a very brief intro to the show and putting it in context, i.e. Smash, Heathers, Waitress, Dear Evan Hansen. Lighting was well designed and thoughtfully linked to the mood of the songs.

It was the songs that we had come to hear, and both solo numbers and ensemble numbers were well sung, it would be unfair to pick out any soloist as they were all good and I don’t want to roll out a list of 19 names, there were one or two with more stage presence than the others and I am thinking here of Harry, Beccy and Emily who particularly lights up the stage. It was also good to hear the harmonies on the ensemble numbers, from full ensemble numbers like ‘Nine to Five’, ‘One day More’ and ‘Mama, I’m a Big girl Now’, the male ensemble and the ‘Six’ wives.

I’m sorry that this is quite brief, but quite difficult to write a large review on this style of show without it just being a list of performers and songs. This was a great evening’s entertainment and deserved the audience’s applause, well done all.

Leslie Judd

 

 

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