Come Alive

At the outset of this show report, it has to be said that this was a blisteringly intense evening of music and movement from a society of young performers at the very top of their game. A concert performance of showstoppers from a selection of very modern musicals, this was an evening which brought a perfect fusion of music and movement to the Royal Court Theatre. This was an entertainment which was perfectly pitched to make the most of the considerable talents of the society and provided a large audience with a memorable musical evening.

X-Rays chose a selection of songs from some of the most up to the minute entertainments from Broadway and the West End and with some lavish staging, turned an evening at the theatre into a musical triumph. The set provided an appropriate arena for the relatively small cast to really fill the stage and present a fearsomely intense spectacle, the different levels afforded by the tower at the rear of the stage adding depth and height to the overall picture. Having almost all the cast on stage throughout the evening also gave the enterprise a real ‘team effort’ feel, enabling the chorus to support the principal performers in any given number. 

The cast were dressed rather snazzily - a kind of ‘showbiz gothic’ seemed to be the order of the day - and looked every bit as professional on stage as they sounded. Everyone in District 3 probably knows by now how much I prefer a live band or orchestra to backing tracks and recorded music (I’m aware of sounding like a broken record on this point, I know...) but the tracks used here were appropriate to the very modern feel of the piece and the overall sound was very well balanced between the music and the performers. Lighting was pin-sharp too and the look and feel of the production was also top notch.

As well as providing a wonderful vocal display, the entire cast gave a masterclass in combining music and movement with one superbly choreographed routine after another. There were some splendidly athletic touches and the cast had obviously worked very hard to give the appearance of a well-oiled machine. Full marks to Millie Hall and Rich Brennand for drilling the cast superbly. Routines were exciting, modern and wholly appropriate to the feel of the music from curtain-up to finale.

Having the cast on stage throughout the evening was a lovely touch as it emphasised the communal feel of the show: there were no ‘star turns’ here as everyone was given their moment to shine. True, it did mean that this meant that there were no opportunities for costume changes but this could be said to have worked in favour of the feel of the concert: the choice of costumes gave the evening an overall ‘look’, worked well in enabling the society to put their own individual stamp on the choice of musical extracts and acted as an effective thread in tying together the opening and closing numbers in the show too. 

The eagle eyed reader will have noticed by now that I haven’t given a name-check to individual performers, mentioned particular highlights or favourite moments, or gone into forensic detail on a moment by moment basis: this was a concert performance which was refreshingly different and very much a celebration of a team effort. Everyone on stage had obviously worked so hard to produce a sparkling musical entertainment that to focus in on the particular and the individual would somehow be against the team spirit which was evident here. And when a jaded old fogey like me can be impressed by an evening’s performance of one song after another I’d happily cross the street to avoid, the society deserve to be praised to the skies. This explosion of talent provided a great evening’s entertainment to a large and very appreciative audience and I look forward to seeing what X-Rays have up their sleeve for their next theatrical presentation. Heartfelt congratulations to you you all and well done to Connal and the team for a memorable evening at the Royal Court Theatre.

 

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.