Curtain Call

It was a privilege to be invited by Caldicot Musical theatre Society, to their very special production “Curtain Call”; a mixed programme of well-known and much-loved musical hits , to celebrate an amazing 100 years of the society. The programme had been arranged not only to highlight the diverse talents of the cast but to entertain and challenge the audience to vote for their personal highlights of the varied performances. With the cabaret style seating arrangements, the audience was relaxed and very much a part of the overall production.

Act 1 opened with a medley of songs from “RENT”, Directed by Shannon Bradbury. The four songs chosen were performed showing excellent harmonies, with a good performance by Rhys Probert and Naomi Coleman.” My personal strong contender for the winning vote”.

OKLAHOMA directed by Rob Langley Swain had the audience stomping their feet and clapping their hands, to one of the most popular of the iconic musical greats. It was extremely hard not to join in with “Oh What a Beautiful Morning”. Well done to Nick Skinner with the song “Lonely Room”.

HAMILTON Directed by Shannon Bradbury, once again showed the musical skills, giving us great harmony and a superb “rap” from Eilis Dunne that stood out as a highlight of the performance. A very entertaining comedy number from Andy Ost and an emotional rendition of “Burn” from Shannon Bradbury, made for a very special performance.

SWEENEY TODD Directed by Katie Bradbury and Heidi Hodkinson completed the impossible by delivering the essence of this show in four songs. Great characterisation from the ensemble and a commendable performance from Heini Skinner as Mrs Lovett. My congratulations to the full company on the” Ballad of Sweeny Todd”. A Sondheim challenge for any company. Well done to you all.

ACT 2 took off with gusto as “SIX” hit the stage. Directed by Carl Burnett-Fielding, the girls were electric. Great choreography, excellent characterisation and the harmonies were outstanding. A technical problem at the start of the performance, saw them all starting over but they hardly missed a beat. An outstanding performance. 

THE WIZARD OF OZ, a classic favourite from the Direction of Mike Probert and Andy Rigdon. Once again it was difficult not to sing along to childhood favourites, as we followed “The yellow Brick Road” route, with a lovely performance of “Over The Rainbow” by Angharad Elson to complete the journey home.

MAMMA MIA Directed by Cathy Geary and Matthew Geary must be the nations favourite singalong, so many of the audience gave in and sang. A very emotional performance by Rhys Probert and Naomi Coleman of “lay all your love” and an excellent rendition of “The winner takes it all” from Mandy Scott lead into a rousing finale of Mamma Mia for the whole ensemble and most of the audience.

The final performance of the evening was a LES MISERABLES medley Directed by Shannon Bradbury. An inspiring performance from Rob Langley-Swain, Laura Mitchel and Shannon Bradbury with a “Heart full of Love” and followed by a very emotional “Empty Chairs” also by Rob. Matthew Geary and Cathy Geary were very much at home in their performance of “Master of the House” with the support of the full company, making for a rousing finale.

The audience listened and voted, with Les Miserables casting the majority vote but the final accolade must go the wonderful efforts of the whole society on this very special occasion. My congratulations to you all. Here’s to the next 100 years in Musical Theatre.

 

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