By Invitation ...RSVP

Revue shows are becoming increasingly popular amongst amateur companies as a way to save and raise funds and as an opportunity to give the broader membership a chance at taking centre stage.

Act one was divided into two sections, starting with the members of the James Goodwin Musical Theatre School with the man himself taking centre stage for the majority.

To close the first half, SAMT members entertained us with their previously performed showcase section; a medley of tunes from the musical compiled of ‘Proclaimers’ hits entitled; Sunshine On Leith. With Paul Rendel (the chairman of SAMT) and James Goodwin taking lead vocals.

James also took the role as joint director/choreographer and was solely responsible for the musical direction of the entire concert too!

Act two saw the actual revue concept kick in, we are in an American Diner and we meet Rebecca who looks back on her younger self starting with the day she got a job in the Diner. We continued to see her memories flashback showing us her life at key stages which bring us up to the present day.

I appreciated how the concept (of act 2) exposed original creativity, the narrative offered us a story to cling on to which made the production far more engaging than simply giving us one song after another which can often get a little tedious.  

It was also refreshing to see the production had steered away from showtunes and used popular music from across the decades to build around the story which was a breath of fresh air. I think this may be the first concert I’ve attended without being serenaded ‘Les Mis’ and it’s probably the last one too!   

I’m not sure whether it was a deliberate decision but the production was (in many ways) the ‘James Goodwin’ show - the guy was never off stage and undertook every possible role of the creative team whilst also competently taking the lead vocals for the shows majority. The society did showcase other vocal abilities they have amongst the membership but an even balance would have been more favourable as it did appear to be somewhat self-indulgent at times.

The accompaniment was a mix of backing tracks and live electric piano which is about all you can get away with at this venue without musicians taking up the majority of the performance space (as well as saving on expense of course).

This was a show which took risks and I can see why it was a difficult production to sell - the title of it wouldn’t have helped as it doesn’t suggest to me to be a piece of theatre, going off the poster I’d say it gave the impression of a charity ball than a ‘show’. I applaud the idea, the originality and the passion put into it from the creative team.

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